PPP's Chung Jin-suk Calls for Parliamentary Probe into Stock Market Chaos, Jang Dong-hyeok Demands Special Counsel Over ETFs

Following People Power Party Floor Leader Chung Jin-suk's repeated proposal to the Democratic Party of Korea for a parliamentary investigation into the stock market turmoil, PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok has demanded a special counsel probe into the rushed introduction of single-stock leverage exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In a social media post today, Floor Leader Chung stated, "We have demanded a parliamentary investigation to determine the causes and responsibilities behind the KOSPI and KOSDAQ stock market chaos, but the ruling party's response is lukewarm," urging, "If the Democratic Party truly wants the Lee Jae-myung administration to succeed, it must accept the parliamentary probe."

He continued, "The purpose of our demand for a parliamentary investigation is not to engage in political strife, but to inspect state affairs in order to restore damaged market trust."

He pointed out, "If questioning is conducted at the level of standing committees in the National Assembly, it results in separate questioning where different officials are summoned by each committee, such as calling the Deputy Prime Minister for Economy in the Strategy and Finance Committee and the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission in the National Policy Committee. There is also no proper opportunity to question key responsible figure Kim Yong-beom, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy."

Floor Leader Chung argued, "Shouldn't we gather key responsible figures, such as Chief Secretary Kim, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Koo Yun-cheol, and Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won, in one place and question why single-stock leverage ETFs were introduced so hastily and recklessly?"

Floor Leader Chung added, "The more the ruling party gets spooked and rejects the parliamentary probe, the more it confesses that the Lee Jae-myung administration is the main culprit behind the stock market chaos," and added, "Let's have a real parliamentary probe, a policy-focused probe. I look forward to the Democratic Party's response."

Subsequently, party leader Jang Dong-hyeok held a press conference at the National Assembly in the afternoon, bringing up suspicions surrounding the introduction of leverage ETFs and asserting, "A parliamentary probe must naturally be conducted, and we must go beyond a parliamentary probe to even a special counsel investigation."

Leader Jang stated, "The public's stock accounts have been wiped out because of a monster called single-stock leverage ETFs," adding, "Not only the public's stock accounts, but even the National Pension, which is retirement assets, has been put in a precarious state. In the end, the only ones who made money in the domestic stock market were foreigners and securities firms."

He further argued, "Is the ETF really just a policy failure? If experts and related agencies opposed it but the Cheong Wa Dae pushed ahead with it, we need to examine whether there was something other than a policy failure," and added, "Shouldn't we suspect whether it was driven by lobbying or corrupt collusion rather than a policy judgment by the Presidential Policy Office? It is necessary to verify through a special counsel whether there were other illicit intentions, such as trying to funnel profits to specific companies through stock manipulation."

He went on to say, "The son of Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy Kim Yong-beom and the son of Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin both work at a securities firm called Mirae Asset Global Investments. It was said that the FSS, the Presidential Policy Office, and related agencies consulted on this, shouldn't we look into that as well?" He added, "The truth about this massive public damage drama must be uncovered through a special counsel investigation."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.