President puts apartment up for sale below market value in alignment with house ownership push

President Lee Jae Myung has put his home up for sale at a below-market price in a show of willingness to stabilize the property market, according to the Blue House on Friday.

The apartment is located in the Gyeonggi city of Seongnam, jointly owned with first lady Kim Hea Kyung. It was put up for sale earlier on Friday, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written statement.

"Although he owns one home for residential purposes, the move is seen as intended to demonstrate his commitment to normalizing the real estate market to the public," Kang said in the statement.

The move comes as Lee has urged owners of multiple homes to sell properties ahead of the government's plan to end the temporary suspension of heavy capital gains taxes in May. Lee has also signaled that the government will pursue measures to reduce incentives for speculative homeownership, including among single-homeowners who hold properties for investment purposes.

Lee currently resides at an official residence in Hannam-dong in central Seoul while renovations are underway at the presidential residence within the Blue House compound.

Insiders say that Lee also hopes for more profit in the ballooning domestic stock market. The Korea Exchange's Kospi and Kosdaq have been seeing record highs in recent weeks, and analysts wager on even more gains through the year.

BY YOON SO-YEON, YONHAP [[email protected]]