PPP Floor Leader Jung Jeom-sik Proposes Parliamentary Investigation Into Stock Market Upheaval to DP

People Power Party Floor Leader Jung Jeom-sik announced on the 2nd that he has proposed to the Democratic Party a parliamentary investigation to determine responsibility for the turmoil in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ stock markets.

In a Facebook post that day, Floor Leader Jung stated, "Our stock market is currently abnormal. It is time for the National Assembly to step up to swiftly identify the causes and responsibilities behind the current situation and foster the healthy development of the stock market," making the proposal.

He outlined five key areas that the parliamentary investigation should focus on: ▲ the introduction process and aftermath of single-stock leverage ETFs, ▲ the government's acts of encouraging stock market overheating continuing since last year, ▲ government-originating destabilizing bad news that heightened market uncertainty, such as controversies over corporate excess profit distribution and the Honam semiconductor cluster creation, ▲ the investment trends and appropriateness of domestic stocks by the National Pension Service and other public pension funds over the past year, and ▲ the adequacy of the roles played by financial supervisory authorities and economic policy departments.

Regarding the recent stock market, he pointed out, "It is not normal for the KOSPI to plummet 16.17% in just two days, nor is it normal for it to surge 17.91% in a single Friday. The magnitude of the KOSPI's sharp drop during the month of July was greater than during the IMF foreign exchange crisis," adding, "Circuit breakers and sidecars, which used to be seen perhaps once a year, have become an everyday occurrence."

He continued, "We must carefully nurture the rare semiconductor boom opportunity that has blown into South Korea. We must develop industries and use this opportunity to grow the public's retirement funds and the assets of our youth," but criticized, "However, the recent image shown by the government has been the exact opposite. It drove the South Korean stock market beyond a 'roller coaster KOSPI' into a 'bungee-jumping Korean market.' It unfolded a casino-like gambling table situation in the stock market."

He further argued, "The bigger problem is whether the stability of public pension funds, such as the National Pension Service, which holds the 'retirement funds of all citizens,' was properly maintained in this process," and maintained, "If market instability grew due to the government's inappropriate intervention and policy failures, leading to a massive evaporation of the public's retirement funds, stern responsibility must be demanded."

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