"Halved by Forced Boosting": Han Dong-hoon and People Power Party Launch Fierce Attack over Kospi Plunge

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon lashed out at the government on Friday (November 6) as the benchmark Kospi sharply tumbled below the 5,000 level, saying, "We are now seeing the price of turning the people's retirement into a speculative gambling den."

Han escalated his offensive, stating, "The president must personally reveal the current state of the National Pension Service, which went all-in on 'Samjeonnix' (Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix)."

In a post on his social media titled "The President Must Answer Personally," Han noted that Kospi 5,000 was a figure put forward as a key national policy task by the Lee Jae-myung administration, writing, "A number touched and then lost is worse than a number never reached," adding, "because it is stained with the people's blood and tears."

He also cited the overnight plunge on Wall Street, where the U.S. Nasdaq composite dropped 5.5 percent and the semiconductor index tumbled more than 12 percent.

He further argued that the government had failed to prepare.

Han criticized, "Last March, I warned, 'The current rally is driven by the semiconductor cycle, so do not indulge in self-praise and instead prepare for a downturn,'" adding, "Yet they kept holding onto the National Pension Service's shares that should have been trimmed while stock prices were rising, and even increased the domestic equity allocation to go all-in on Samjeonnix."

He was taking direct aim at the National Pension Service expanding its proportion of domestic stock investments.

The People Power Party also launched an all-out attack. Lim I-ja, head of the party's policy committee, raised her voice at a floor strategy meeting on Friday (November 6), saying, "The '9,000 Kospi' built on forced market boosting and a temporary semiconductor boom was an illusion and a bubble," adding, "The stock market has been halved, and the assets of 14 million retail investors and citizens are evaporating."

The Kospi's intraday dip below the 5,000 threshold marks the first time in nine months since February 6, though as of 1:30 p.m. today, the Kospi has narrowly managed to regain the 5,000 line.

(Reported by Son Hyeong-an | Video by Kim Ki-hyun | Design by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.