The televised public hearing hosted Thursday by President Lee Jae Myung on housing policy offered a rare chance for citizens and policymakers to exchange suggestions on how to address and navigate the soaring housing market. The discussion went on for three hours, longer than the initially planned 100 minutes. Still, three hours was insufficient for the critical issue of housing, which is considered both a home and an asset for Koreans. The president stressed above all tougher property holding taxes, as he pledged to "normalize the wrongly formed housing prices based on asymmetric supply and demand" despite its potential "political cost." It was an open venue for exchange that started on the belief that there is a need to strengthen the country's property holding tax regime. "To bring Korea's property holding taxes in line with those of advanced economies, they would have to be raised at least threefold," Lee said. With such a hefty rise likely to trigger a "public uprising," the president said the government would have to compromise. The majority of the participants agreed to the streng