The People Power Party has escalated its push over the introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, calling for a special counsel investigation on top of a parliamentary inquiry into the process led by former Presidential Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom. Party leader Chang Dong-hyuck said a rigorous investigation is needed into Kim and financial regulators.
"The National Assembly must uncover the full truth through a parliamentary inquiry and a special counsel," Chang said at a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 2nd. "The police are incompetent and the prosecution has been abolished. That leaves a special counsel as the only answer."
Chang pressed the case by alleging collusion between Kim and brokerage firms. "Public losses from single-stock leveraged ETFs have reached 54 trillion won, while brokerages pocketed sharply higher fees," he said. "Kim and those around him plundered the public's assets to line the pockets of brokerage firms."
He added that Kim's son and the son of Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin both work at Mirae Asset Securities. "Allegations even surfaced yesterday that Mirae Asset Chairman Park Hyeon-joo met Kim at the Four Seasons Hotel and held a drinking party," Chang said.
"Chairman Park is also co-chair of the 150 trillion won future growth fund created by this administration," he said. "There are also suspicions that Kim, who survived the cabinet reshuffle, abruptly resigned because his trail led back to Mirae Asset's lobbying."
"If Kim pushed single-stock leveraged ETFs so relentlessly as a result of Mirae Asset's lobbying, this cannot end with his resignation alone," Chang said. "This is precisely the Lee Jae-myung administration's ETF gate, and the facts must be established through an investigation."
He also called for scrutiny of the entire policymaking process. "Kim could not have caused a disaster of this scale on his own," Chang said. "The involvement of the entire policy chain must be investigated, from the presidential office and the Office for Government Policy Coordination to the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service. Whether the president gave instructions, went along with them or bears responsibility must also be examined."
Chang demanded that Kim appear at the parliamentary audit. "There are rumors that Kim has left the country," he said. "He may have resigned just before the regular session to avoid appearing as an institutional witness at the audit, but he must appear as an ordinary witness and tell the truth."
The People Power Party signaled a day earlier that it would pursue a parliamentary inquiry into problems in the rollout of single-stock leveraged ETFs. The party says it will also hold Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won and Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin accountable for the policy's introduction, along with Kim.
