The main opposition People Power Party kept up sharp criticism of the government's cabinet reshuffle, saying "the repetition of appointments made without principle is by no means a coincidence."
Park Chung-kwon, the party's chief spokesperson, made the remarks on the 2nd, saying, "President Lee Jae-myung should look back, even now, at the entire failed appointment system and give the public a responsible answer."
Park singled out Kim Yong-beom, the former presidential policy chief who stepped down immediately after the cabinet reshuffle was announced, and called for a full overhaul of the government's personnel system. "The public cannot hold back a bitter laugh at the parting words of former policy chief Kim Yong-beom, who said until the moment he left that 'we are proud of the results we produced,'" he said. "The very person who caused retail investors to shed tears of blood through the hasty introduction of leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered shameless self-praise instead of any reflection." He added, "This arrogance, this inability even to admit failure as failure, is the essence of the Lee Jae-myung administration's personnel disaster."
Park also demanded that responsibility be established for the process of introducing single-stock leveraged ETFs. "The leveraged ETF was not an accident that former chief Kim pushed through alone," he said. "Concerns have been raised that the entire policy line — including the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service — was deeply involved in this unreasonable policy."
"President Lee must uncover in full the responsibility of the accomplices hiding behind former chief Kim," he said, stressing that "the truth about the introduction process must be clearly established through a parliamentary investigation and a criminal probe."
He also argued that the appointment of a new policy chief should be an occasion to change the existing policy direction. "If they only change the person while keeping anti-market real estate regulations and state-directed finance intact, they cannot escape criticism that this is a 'cosmetic renewal,'" Park said. "The successor must first state clearly a commitment to review the failed policies fully, from square one."
The party also went on the offensive against ministerial nominees facing confirmation hearings. On Yong Hye-in, the nominee for gender equality and family minister, Park said she "has a record of supporting the complete abolition of supplementary investigation authority, which women's groups have opposed," adding that "even her basic qualifications to oversee the protection of socially vulnerable groups, including in sex crimes, are being questioned." He said that "despite this, she insists on keeping her National Assembly seat as well, to the point that calls for her resignation have erupted publicly even from the ruling party leadership."
The People Power Party signaled that it will push for a parliamentary investigation to establish the problems in the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs. It intends to hold not only former chief Kim but also Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won and Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin accountable for the policy's introduction.
