The People Power Party criticized on the 19th that the National Pension Service’s domestic stock valuation dropped by over 182 trillion Korean won in about 100 days amid a domestic stock market crash, calling it a “dangerous gamble ‘pension fund casino’ using the people’s retirement funds as collateral by the Lee Jae Myung government.” The party demanded, “Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong should take responsibility for leading efforts to prop up the stock market for local elections and resign, and President Lee Jae Myung should personally explain and sincerely apologize.”

People Power Party lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Pension Reform and the Planning and Finance Committee held a press conference at the National Assembly that day, stating, “The Lee Jae Myung government’s mobilization of the National Pension Service in the stock market was no different from stock price manipulation.”

The lawmakers said, “The National Pension Service overturned its decade-long principle by postponing rebalancing and then drastically increasing the target proportion of domestic stocks. It even decided to keep the minutes of the Fund Management Committee meeting, where major decisions were made, classified until four years after the president’s term.”

They added, “The full details of the decision to mobilize the people’s retirement funds for the president’s local election-driven stock market boost must be thoroughly investigated. While foreign and institutional investors cashed in during the rally, retail investors who entered late bore the brunt of the stock plunge and high-risk leverage ETF shocks.” They continued, “The bigger problem is that the National Pension Service is now trapped in a dilemma: selling domestic stocks could destabilize the market, but holding them increases loss risks.”

The lawmakers claimed that after President Lee instructed a review of expanding the National Pension Service’s domestic stock ratio last year, the Fund Management Committee unusually postponed rebalancing in January. They also pointed out that the target domestic stock ratio was raised from 14.9% to 20.8% ahead of the local elections.

The lawmakers asked, “Was the decision to drastically increase domestic stock investment truly for the National Pension Service’s profitability, or was it a local election-driven stock market boost project by the president?” They demanded, “The exact nature of communications between the presidential office, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the National Pension Service must be clarified.”

They warned, “Without structural reforms, the National Pension Service’s future large-scale asset sales will inevitably shock the entire stock market. The policy bombs left by the Lee Jae Myung government will ultimately be passed to the next administration and future generations.”

The lawmakers urged, “Immediately submit all related materials, including Fund Management Committee meeting minutes and decision-making rationale, to the National Assembly. If the government refuses to explain, the National Assembly will have no choice but to investigate the truth through a parliamentary probe.”

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