The Presidential Office responded calmly on the 22nd to the KOSPI index breaking through the 5000 level for the first time in history, saying it has "no particular comment."
Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung, at a briefing that day, gave this response when asked whether President Lee Jae-myung had made any remarks regarding the KOSPI breaking 5000, adding that the administration maintains "a calm stance."
The KOSPI opened higher that day and surpassed 5000 during trading for the first time in history. At a press conference the previous day, President Lee noted that "things that were distorted are returning to normal," citing several factors behind the market's previous undervaluation: the Korean Peninsula peace risk, management and governance risks, stock manipulation risks, and political risks. At that occasion, he said, "Before the election, I said 'just changing the government would push it past 3000.' That's because political risk would be resolved," adding a warning: "I will clearly demonstrate that if you manipulate stock prices, your family will be ruined."
In particular, noting that the KOSPI index showed only a slight decline during trading that day despite a significant drop in U.S. markets the previous day, President Lee emphasized, "In other words, there's tremendous buying demand waiting on the sidelines," adding, "What's important is normalization, not artificially propping up stock prices."
Regarding the Korean Peninsula peace risk, he also made a pointed remark: "People are saying a lot about being 'weak' (regarding the joint military-police investigation into drones that infiltrated North Korea), but should we take a hard line and have a showdown?" He then stressed that resolving the Korean Peninsula peace risk is directly linked to KOSPI gains, saying, "If we take a hard line and clash, the economy will collapse."
The KOSPI index, which opened slightly lower the previous day, closed at 4909.93, up 0.49% from the prior trading day. This was an all-time closing high, and the following day—that day—it broke through 5000 for the first time in history.