The Reform Party criticized the government's tax reform bill—which abolishes the rollover system for existing Individual Comprehensive Asset Management Accounts (ISA) and introduces a new "productive finance ISA" restricted to domestic stocks and funds—as a "government-led 'yeong-geul' (leveraging all possible funds) and collusion."

During the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly this morning, Party Leader Lee Jun-seok mentioned the tax revision and stated, "In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished to roll a boulder up to the top of a mountain, only to watch it roll back down just before the peak. Now, 9.73 million ISA subscribers are facing this exact punishment. The compound interest built up over five years will roll right back down at the line drawn by the government."

Leader Lee pointed out, "Expanding the national growth fund to 200 trillion won and creating a K-sovereign wealth fund follow the same trend. Everything possible is being mobilized just to defend the stock market index."

He raised his voice, saying, "The Democratic Party administration used to be so wary of yeong-geul and collusion in real estate. Yet, now that the stock market—which has essentially become the administration's performance indicator—is shaken, they are pushing the public's retirement funds into the domestic stock market. This is a government-led yeong-geul and collusion."

The Reform Party also called for a thorough investigation and the resignation of Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-back, who is embroiled in allegations of desertion.

Floor Leader Chun Ha-ram mentioned an opinion poll regarding Minister Ahn's alleged desertion, which was commissioned by the party's policy think tank, the Reform Research Institute, stating, "75.6% of the respondents answered that Minister Ahn should step down. Nearly 8 out of 10 citizens are telling him to resign, and he is the only one stubbornly holding on."

He continued, demanding, "I call upon President Lee Jae-myung. Already 320,000 citizens have signed a petition calling for the impeachment of Minister Ahn. Order the disclosure of his military service records to uncover the truth and hold him accountable. Minister Ahn must also release his military service records and step down as the public commands."

Regarding President Lee's remarks the previous day mentioning that graduates of the Korea Military Academy staged coups three times and pointing out the necessity of integrating military academies, Leader Lee said, "Isn't dissolving an organization just because of the inappropriate actions of a few soldiers similar to the heavily criticized decision to disband the Korea Coast Guard following the Sewol ferry disaster?"

Regarding conservative figures such as People Power Party lawmaker Kim Gi-hyeon and former lawmaker Yoo Seung-min calling for a "conservative grand coalition," he kept his distance, stating, "It is difficult to produce a good alliance when people who rarely interact suddenly rush together just because they found a common target to fight."

He added, "Whether they are uniting for the purpose of fighting against the Lee Jae-myung administration or simply gathering out of a shared antipathy toward Representative Jang Dong-hyeok, gathering without any valid reason to form a federation will not allow them to defeat Dong Zhuo."

Meanwhile, the opinion poll mentioned by Floor Leader Chun was conducted by the Reform Research Institute on the 5th for a single day, targeting 501 men and women aged 18 and older nationwide using an automated response system (ARS) with wireless RDD.

The sampling error is ±4.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 2.57%.

(Photo: Yonhap News)