People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok on the 10th criticized the Lee Jae-myung administration as "not a people-sovereign government but a people-abandoning government," pointing to leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), individual savings accounts (ISAs), and real estate policy.
At the supreme council meeting that day, Jang said, "This administration claimed to be a people-sovereign government, but it gave up on the people long ago," adding, "It is not a people-sovereign government but a people-abandoning government."
Jang cited a Bloomberg News report to raise the issue of losses among leveraged ETF investors. He said, "People's assets are being gutted," adding, "Investors in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix leveraged ETFs are seeing returns of more than minus 60%." He went on, "SK hynix leverage has plunged 84% from its peak, and as many as 360,000 securities accounts have been forcibly liquidated," adding, "Among them, 65% are age 35 or younger, and the government has been accused of stoking risky investments by inexperienced investors."
He also argued that a special counsel investigation is needed to determine how leveraged ETFs were introduced.
He said, "Shouldn't we thoroughly determine through a special counsel who designed it and who gave the final order?" adding, "President Lee Jae-myung can by no means be free from responsibility."
He continued his criticism over the controversy surrounding reduced ISA benefits. Jang said, "The government has even moved to cut ISA benefits," adding, "The president is now, without proper preparation, demanding to know why it was done that way." He then criticized, "That is not something the president should be saying to the government; it is something the people should be demanding of the president."
Earlier, the government announced a tax reform plan excluding ISA tax exemptions for U.S. ETFs and limiting the maturity of existing general ISAs—which could be extended indefinitely—to five years.
He also sharpened his criticism of real estate policy. Jang said, "With all kinds of regulations and loan controls, the real estate market has already become hell."
Regarding President Lee's statement on the 8th on his X account (formerly Twitter) that he would improve the so-called "marriage penalty," in which married people are disadvantaged compared with singles in loans, housing subscriptions, and taxes, Jang said, "Now they say they will eliminate the marriage penalty," adding, "Negative evaluations of real estate policy stand at 57.6%, and 70.4% of people in their 30s view it negatively."