Police Launch Probe into Complaint Against President Lee Jaemyung over "Responsibility for Single-Stock Leveraged ETFs"

President Lee and Kim Yongbeom among four named in complaint
Civic group representative questioned as complainant on Oct. 27

Police have launched an investigation into a case in which President Lee Jaemyung, former Blue House Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom and others were accused of responsibility for market turmoil surrounding single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

President Lee Jaemyung appears lost in thought at a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on the 27th. Yonhap News Agency

According to reporting by The Asia Business Daily on Oct. 28, the Seoul Jongno Police Station questioned a representative of the Citizens' Coalition for People's Livelihood Measures (Seominwi), the civic group that filed the complaint, starting at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 27. The complaint accuses President Lee, former Policy Chief Kim, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin and Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eog-weon of abuse of authority and obstruction of another's exercise of rights, among other offenses.

In August, Seominwi filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against the four, alleging that they were responsible for market turmoil following the introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs. The case was later assigned to the Seoul Jongno Police Station. This was the first time a complainant had been questioned in the case.

Seominwi claimed that President Lee and the others were responsible for devising and introducing single-stock leveraged ETFs. It called on investigators to determine whether any illegal acts had occurred during the policy decision-making process.

Police reportedly asked about the grounds for the complaint, including whether there had been any abuse of authority in the process of pursuing policies related to single-stock leveraged ETFs.

A single-stock leveraged ETF is a financial product designed to track the daily return of a specific individual stock at a set multiple. As concerns grew over increased stock-market volatility, financial authorities have pursued additional regulatory measures for the product, including the introduction of emergency action powers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.