Opposition demands probe of Kim Yong-beom over leveraged ETF rollout after surprise resignation

The opposition People Power Party launched a full offensive Tuesday after President Lee Jae Myung's government accepted the surprise resignation of Cheong Wa Dae Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom, who had been left out of the Aug. 30 Cabinet reshuffle. The PPP said Kim should face a criminal investigation over the hasty introduction of single-stock leveraged ETFs, not simply be allowed to resign. The Democratic Party of Korea, by contrast, held back any official statement and appeared to be watching how the presidential office reorganizes itself.

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on Facebook that "the leveraged ETF was Kim Yong-beom's creation," adding that the stock market had been turned into a gambling den, ordinary citizens had seen their savings wiped out, and only brokerage firms had profited. "Resigning does not make that responsibility disappear," Jang said. He added that public losses had reached 54 trillion won ($39.3 billion) and called for a special prosecutor to be appointed.

Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik, speaking to reporters immediately after a floor strategy meeting that morning, said it was "really late, but still a relief" that the demand from the public and the opposition for Kim's dismissal had finally been heeded. He added, however, that Kim had in some respects been shouldering responsibility that should have rested with President Lee. "Separate from Kim's resignation, the hasty introduction of leveraged ETFs requires a full investigation through a parliamentary investigation and a special prosecutor," Jeong said.

Chief Spokesperson Park Chung-gwon also issued a statement, saying that the resignation of one key aide would not conceal the collapse of people's livelihoods or the policy failures of the current government. "What truly needs to change is not the face of an aide but President Lee's own governing philosophy," Park said. "The failed governing agenda must be comprehensively reviewed from scratch."

Reform Party Chief Spokesperson Lee Dong-hoon said Kim had widened market uncertainty through an economic outlook detached from reality and anti-market policies, and that Kim was not free from responsibility for the failure of real estate policy either. "This resignation should not be the end — it must be the starting point for a wholesale revision of failed economic policy," Lee said.

Within the broader pro-government camp, however, some read the move as part of a renewal drive. Park Won-seok, a former Justice Party lawmaker who had criticized Kim's retention in the Aug. 30 reshuffle, shared news of the resignation on Facebook and wrote: "Did the president give Kim a chance to decide his own fate? It is a relief that the renewal of personnel did not come any later." He added that policy continuity only carries meaning when it rests on clear accountability.