Lee Jun-seok slams Lee Jae Myung government over bank lending U-turn, calls it 'mockery of policy'

Reform Party leader Lee Jun-seok said Monday that the government's sudden easing of bank lending restrictions — after President Lee Jae Myung made a single remark during a policy forum — showed how far the administration's policies had become a "mockery."

Speaking to reporters after a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, Lee said the lending issue had become "particularly serious" in the context of real estate.

The Reform Party plans to release polling results on real estate issues soon. Lee said the survey was prompted by what he described as "dangerous concepts" President Lee raised at a recent real estate forum. "We are looking into whether people actually think 1 billion won ($682,000), 2 billion won or 3 billion won is the threshold for high-priced housing — the president spoke quite loosely about the standard — and whether they support a property holding tax as a system in principle," he added.

On allegations that members of the Shincheonji religious group had joined the Democratic Party of Korea ahead of its national convention, Lee proposed introducing transparent rules for party membership management. "If the separation of religion and politics under Article 20 of the Constitution is in fact being continuously threatened, institutional reform is now needed," he said.

Lee said the election appeal hearing at the National Election Commission that day — related to the June 3 local elections — must not become a platform for amplifying fraud theories. Reform Party supreme council member Kim Jeong-cheol was set to appear at an oral hearing at the NEC in Gwacheon at 2 p.m.

Lee said he could not understand why People Power Party lawmakers were opposing a ballot recount that could address public doubts. "This can only be seen as political," he said, adding that the opposition was not about fingerprinting ballots. "It can only be seen as a political goal to drag this situation out," he said.

Assigned to the Finance and Economy Committee, Lee said the upcoming parliamentary audit would be a clear test of the Lee Jae Myung administration. "The last audit was ambiguous — it was unclear whether it was an audit of the Yoon Suk Yeol government or the Lee Jae Myung government," he said. "This time, it is clearly an audit of the Lee Jae Myung government," he added, noting the administration had now entered its second year.