The People Power Party on Wednesday called on President Lee Jae-myung to immediately dismiss Cheong Wa Dae policy chief Kim Yong-beom and demanded a criminal investigation into the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs, which the party blamed for deepening market volatility amid an unprecedented two consecutive days of circuit breaker activations.
PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik posted on Facebook, asking whether South Korea's stock market had ever seen such a "roller-coaster Kospi" — riddled with sidecar and circuit breaker triggers — before the Lee Jae-myung administration. "Kim bears enormous responsibility as the economic control tower for plunging the stock market and the broader economy into chaos, yet he remains focused on dodging accountability rather than showing any remorse," Jeong said.
Jeong urged President Lee to immediately dismiss Kim and overhaul the entire economic policy team. "Accept the government's responsibility for the market turmoil with humility and apologize to the people who have suffered severe losses from the stock market collapse," he said.
Chief spokesperson Park Chung-kwon also criticized the government in a statement, saying the extreme volatility battering South Korea's stock market — pushing it to the brink of collapse — was "a clear man-made disaster caused by irresponsible policy." He said the government had rushed high-risk leveraged products to market, stoking a speculative frenzy and driving ordinary investors into what amounted to a "gambling den."
"They touted rising share prices as an achievement, but when the market collapsed, they turned a blind eye — driving another nail into the hearts of the people," Park said. He added that Kim should resign immediately and that a full investigation into the hasty rollout of leveraged ETFs must be carried out.
Spokesperson Ham In-gyeong said sidecar and circuit breaker activations had become routine while countless retail investors lost their assets overnight. "Take clear responsibility for this policy failure," she said.
Rep. Kwon Young-se wrote on Facebook that the policy chief had pushed for leveraged ETFs that turned the stock market into a speculative arena. "When the index was rising, they took credit for it as a government achievement. Now, no one is talking about accountability," he wrote.
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