President Lee Jae-myung acknowledged shortcomings in South Korea’s introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, saying he had not fully understood how the decision was made. The products, tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and introduced in May, were intended to redirect overseas investment into domestic markets and support foreign-exchange stability, but their launch near the end of a stock-market rally amplified losses when prices fell. Financial authorities later strengthened investor eligibility checks and adjusted leverage limits. Lee also defended real estate policies focused on demand suppression, pledged to expedite housing supply and receive weekly progress reports, and described price movements between Gangnam and outer Seoul as a leveling process. The average Seoul apartment sale price reached 1.6074 billion Korean won in August, while experts said prices could continue rising as jeonse and monthly rents increase. Lee attributed part of the capital-region housing pressure to reduced permits and construction starts in 2022, defended the government’s farmland survey as an anti-speculation measure, and said a successor to Blue House Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom was under consideration.