President Moon Jae-in said Friday that the government's financial tax revisions must not weaken the stock market or discourage individual investors.

Moon's comments come after the government put forth revisions to the financial taxation system last month, which includes a minimum 20-percent capital gains tax on minority shareholders whose stock investment gains surpass 20 million won a year starting in 2023. 

Currently, South Korea levies a capital gains tax on major shareholders who own stocks worth more than one billion won in a single company.

Moon stressed that now is the time to encourage individual investors who have sustained the stock market amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to further stimulate the market through tax revisions.

The president's remarks come amid public backlash over possible double taxation of the expanded gains tax and the existing transaction tax for individual investors.