Participants raise their hands to speak during a televised public discussion on real estate policy, presided over by President Lee Jae Myung, at the KBS Annex in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

A live, nationally televised housing policy forum led Thursday by the president himself, a rarity in many countries, highlighted the outsized role real estate plays in Korea’s economy and society.

Experts say housing has become more than just shelter for Koreans, serving as a primary store of wealth, a means of securing retirement and a pathway to social mobility amid scarce supply in the Seoul metropolitan area.

President Lee Jae Myung convened the public discussion on real estate policy, bringing together some 140 participants, including Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, as well as representatives from the financial and construction industries, academia, civic groups, real estate brokers and social media influencers.

The level of public engagement was evident even before the cameras started rolling. Since the forum’s official website opened on July 12, people have submitted more than 6,300 policy proposals.

What was scheduled as a 100-minute discussion ultimately stretched beyond three hours as participants continued to debate the country’s housing challenges.

Yang Jun-sok, an economics professor at the Catholic University of Korea, said the country’s housing problem is rooted as much in geography as economics. Demand is concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, where jobs, schools and opportunities are clustered, while land remains scarce.

The result is chronically high prices. Real estate data provided by KB Financial Group showed that the average apartment price in Seoul reached 1.58 billion won ($1.08 million) in June, about 2.7 times the nationwide average of 576.89 million won, highlighting the widening gap between the capital and other regions.

But high prices are only part of the story.

“Real estate accounts for more than 70 percent of Korean household assets,” he noted, reflecting its role not just as housing but also as a primary vehicle for building wealth and funding retirement.

Apartment complexes are seen in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

Unlike in the U.S. or Europe, where households have broader investment options, such as stocks and securities, Koreans have historically had fewer alternatives for accumulating long-term wealth, making property the default store of wealth.

The professor traced much of today’s property mindset to the years after the 2008 global financial crisis. As interest rates plunged, returns on savings evaporated while property values climbed, rewarding those who had accumulated real estate over those who had relied on cash savings for retirement. The experience cemented a belief among younger generations that buying property — not saving cash — was the surest path to long-term financial security.

That has created a fundamental policy dilemma. Younger households want home prices to fall within reach, while existing homeowners depend on rising property values to safeguard their retirement.

“The housing market is in continual conflict,” Yang said, adding that the divide has increasingly become generational. “If housing prices keep rising, rents are likely to rise as well. That leaves young people with even less money to save for a home, and it also feeds into their ability to start families and raise children.”

Yet economics alone does not explain why housing commands such intense public attention.

Kim Je-kyung, director of Tumi Real Estate Consulting, said homeownership occupies a uniquely important place in Korean society. Unlike stocks or other financial assets, a home is widely seen not only as an investment but also as something people are expected to own.

“Koreans have exceptionally strong aspirations to own a home,” he said. “There’s a deeply rooted belief that you should live in your own house, not someone else’s.”

That, he argues, helps explain why rising home prices provoke a public backlash in a way that surging stock, cryptocurrency or gold prices rarely do.

“When stock prices rise, people might simply think investors made money and move on,” the director said. “But people get angry when housing prices rise because they see those homes as something they themselves could have bought — or still hope to buy one day.”

Even existing homeowners are not immune, Kim added. Many aspire to move up the housing ladder — to a larger apartment, a more desirable neighborhood or a district with better schools. When prices in those areas outpace the value of their own homes, they can feel as though homeownership is slipping further out of reach despite already owning property.