President rushes to review policies amid growing backlash from young Koreans

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to revise policies that are criticized for going against the interests of young Koreans, as his approval rating among this demographic remains the lowest of any age group.

The disputed measures span multiple sectors, including a tax overhaul plan concerning individual savings accounts (ISAs), which angered people in their 20s and 30s by stripping away existing benefits.

The measures also include 22 marriage-related policies, which have been nicknamed the "marriage penalty" for disadvantaging newlyweds and new parents.

The president referred to those in their 20s and 30s as “a vulnerable group” during a meeting with senior presidential secretaries, Thursday, asking them to reorganize relevant policies by considering young people's conditions, including education, employment, income, asset building, housing and marital status.

The announcement came amid polls showing that Lee's disapproval rating among those in their 20s and 30s is higher compared to other age groups.

A Media Tomato survey, commissioned by News Tomato and conducted from Aug. 3 to 4, showed disapproval was at 59 percent among those in their 20s and 61 percent among those in their 30s. The finding far exceeded the overall disapproval rating at 48.5 percent among all age groups.

Commissioned by Energy Economic News, a separate Realmeter poll taken from July 27 to 31 showed that 65.7 percent of respondents from both the 20-something and 30-something age groups said they do not support the president’s handling of state affairs, against the overall 50 percent disapproval rating.

Under the circumstances, Lee ordered a full review of the proposed changes to ISAs amid concerns that the planned overhaul would target existing tax benefits.

ISAs allow investors to manage domestic shares and overseas exchange-traded funds through a single account while receiving tax exemptions on interest and dividend income. They are widely used by young people and retail investors seeking to build assets.

However, the government proposed creating a new ISA limited to domestic investments while reducing some benefits under existing accounts, including the ability to carry unused annual contribution limits forward and extend account maturities.

After being briefed on the backlash, Lee questioned why officials had proceeded without properly reporting that existing benefits would be curtailed.

“The government failed to properly understand the sensitivities of the policy’s beneficiaries,” he said.

On Saturday, Lee turned his attention to the "marriage penalty" that leave married couples at a disadvantage in housing loans, apartment subscriptions and taxation.

“Young people should never hesitate to marry because of disadvantages created by government policies,” Lee wrote on X.

He said 22 areas for potential improvement had been identified, including easing income requirements for government-backed housing loans, raising income thresholds for dual-income couples with newborns and relaxing apartment subscription rules for newlyweds.

“Marriage should be a hopeful new beginning, not a burden,” Lee said.

While the president's intervention may help ease the backlash, critics said the episode exposes weaknesses in the Lee administration’s policymaking process.

Others argued that acknowledging the problems and moving quickly to address them is preferable to allowing flawed policies to remain unchanged.