(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jeong-jin = On the 8th, the ruling and opposition parties fought over responsibility for introducing a single-stock leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF) during the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee audit of the Financial Services Commission.
The main opposition party, the People Power Party, raised suspicions that the Blue House was involved in the introduction of the product and repeatedly requested the use of witnesses such as former Blue House policy chief Kim Yong-beom, while the ruling Democratic Party countered, saying it was a conspiracy theory.
Rep. Park Seong-hoon of the People Power Party pointed out, “The loss to the public amounted to 54 trillion won due to the single-stock leveraged ETF, which was hastily launched a week before the local elections.” He added, “There are suspicions that the Blue House was in a hurry to launch high-risk financial products, so why not adopt Kim Yong-beom, then BH (Blue House) policy chief, as a witness?”
He said, "Hearings are a place to resolve the public's suspicions, but we express deep regret over the ruling party's attempts to block the adoption of key witnesses, refuse efforts to uncover the truth, and go for bulletproof and blind hearings."
Rep. Park Joon-tae of the same party claimed, "At the meeting chaired by the Financial Services Commission last January, the Financial Investment Association suggested the introduction of a single-stock leveraged ETF, but none of the member companies requested it," and claimed, "We have tentatively concluded that President Lee Jae-myung and the Blue House are the main culprits in the single-stock leveraged ETF, and the Financial Investment Association and the Financial Services Commission are accomplices."
He also defined former Director Kim's resignation as "cutting off the tail" and raised his voice, saying, "If this continues, no one will be held accountable."
In response, Democratic Party lawmaker Park Hong-bae launched a rebuttal with the argument that the calculation of damage to the single-stock leveraged ETF was inaccurate.
Rep. Park explained, “The stock prices of SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, which are basic assets, have fallen, and since that is leverage, I think it is correct to view (the damage) as about half.”
Also, regarding the suspicion of Blue House intervention, he said, "There is an aspect that is being driven by conspiracy theories," and pointed out that "there was no choice but to introduce it to resolve regulatory differences," citing the fact that domestic stock-based single-stock leveraged ETFs were being traded in Hong Kong even before the product was introduced.
The ruling and opposition parties also clashed over the issue of People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop being investigated by the police on the 6th, the first day of the National Assembly inspection.
Rep. Kim, a member of the Political Affairs Committee, was sued for defamation and other charges after raising suspicions about the foreign business trip of former Seoul mayoral candidate Jeong Won-oh of the Democratic Party during the June 3 local elections, and was investigated by the police for over 16 hours on the 6th.
Rep. Kim requested a written investigation due to the National Assembly inspection schedule, but claimed that the police demanded a face-to-face investigation as soon as possible.
He then said that due to business trips, acute lumbar disc surgery, etc., the earliest possible investigation date was the first day of the National Assembly inspection, and "the police reported it to the media as if I had voluntarily coordinated (the schedule) and (investigated)."
Rep. Kim demanded an apology for Democratic Party lawmakers' criticism that this was a "self-made play" and a "show."
In response, Democratic Party lawmaker Han Min-soo countered, saying, "If you said you would go (to be investigated) on the first day of the National Assembly inspection, you can just go quietly and come back." He added, "Isn't it as if the police and Lee Jae-myung's government put a political frame in that they called in and investigated the People Power Party lawmaker on the first day of the National Assembly inspection in order to oppress him?"
