People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok labeled the government's introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as a "national disaster harming the public" and argued that a special counsel should be launched to uncover the truth.
Jang held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly on the afternoon of the 5th and said, "Right now, people's stocks and bank accounts have been wiped out," adding, "It's because of the monster called single-stock leveraged ETFs."
Jang also mentioned criticism from former Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk, who raised government responsibility over the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs. Jang said, "In the end, the only ones making money in the domestic stock market are foreigners and securities firms," adding, "It has resulted in only foreigners and securities firms fattening their bellies with people's small savings." He added, "Why else would even the broader pro-government camp step up to criticize it?"
He also hinted at the possibility that there may have been corruption or other wrongdoing in the policy process. Jang said, "If this was pushed through despite the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) expressing concerns about leveraged ETFs, we should suspect factors other than a policy judgment," adding, "We need to verify through a special counsel whether an unreasonable policy decision was made due to lobbying or improper collusion, and whether it was intended to benefit certain corporations."
He also raised the possibility of responsibility for President Lee Jae-myung. Jang asked rhetorically, "This major policy wasn't reported to the president? Can we believe that?" and emphasized, "We must uncover the truth of this enormous national disaster harming the public through a special counsel."