The suspicions regarding Chairperson Lee Chun-seok of the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee (Democratic Party of Korea) over transactions involving hidden stocks are spreading like wildfire. Since this Commissioner is serving as the head of the Economy Subcommittee of the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning, which is responsible for establishing the artificial intelligence (AI) policy of the Lee Jae-myung government, there are suggestions that he may have opted for hidden transactions to avoid conflicts of interest.
The Chairperson was captured by a media camera trading stocks of Naver and LG CNS on his mobile phone during the National Assembly's plenary session on 4th in the afternoon. According to the asset disclosure status of this Commissioner disclosed on the public official ethics system on March 27, neither this Commissioner nor his family held any securities. The Commissioner was trading stocks from an account in the name of his aide, a person surnamed Cha.
Following media reports, the opposition party announced it would file a criminal complaint against this Commissioner for violating the Financial Real Name Act. The Democratic Party also instructed the ethics inspection team to conduct an urgent investigation based on the directives of its leader, Jeong Cheong-rae.
The controversial aspect is that the stocks this Commissioner traded are expected to benefit from the AI-related projects under the Lee Jae-myung administration. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the five corporations that will lead the "Independent AI Foundation Model Project" the previous day. These include Naver Cloud and LG AI Research Institute, which formed a consortium with the stocks of Naver and LG CNS that this Commissioner traded.
While serving as the head of the Economy Subcommittee of the Presidential Committee, this Commissioner laid out the framework of the government's AI policy. He directly attended the press conference of the Presidential Committee on June 22, stating, "AI is a key challenge for our government," and, "I understand that almost every ministry is preparing commitments to address AI. However, integrating this well into effective government policies is our (Presidential Committee's) responsibility, and it starts now."
It is reported that this Commissioner's Economy Subcommittee has worked with the Ministry of Science and ICT to devise practical measures for the AI commitments of President Lee Jae-myung. If this Commissioner held stocks in Naver and LG CNS, he could not avoid accusations of conflicts of interest.
People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo criticized, "Commissioner Lee Chun-seok is the head of the economy subcommittee at the Presidential Committee and is responsible for AI policy," saying, "Naver and LG CNS are included in the K-AI Foundation Model elite team. This strongly suggests foreknowledge of favorable information before purchasing."