'I trust our market's future': Official buys W10m in stocks during market plunge

Park Yong-jin, vice chairman of the Presidential Committee on Regulatory Reform, drew attention Friday after investing 10 million won ($7,450) in stocks amid a sharp market selloff.

Park posted on his social media account Friday, writing, "Today, I bought stocks for the first time in a long while," and shared a screenshot of the transaction.

The trading record showed Park purchased 128 shares of KODEX 200 at 78,330 won per share at 10:49 a.m. Friday, for a total of 10.03 million won. KODEX 200 is an ETF that tracks the KOSPI 200 index.

"Today the market is shaking badly, but I believe in the underlying strength of our economy and trust in the future of our market," Park wrote. "I also trust that the government will do its utmost to uphold confidence in our market."

About four hours after disclosing the purchase, Park posted a follow-up explaining the reasoning behind the investment.

"This morning, as share prices were plunging, I bought stocks for the first time in a long while and made that public," Park wrote. Park said the move was prompted by some opposition politicians who, rather than working to stabilize the market amid widespread public anxiety, appeared focused on attacking the Lee Jae-myung administration and the Democratic Party.

Park criticized what he called an irresponsible attitude of stoking public fear for political point-scoring — "like fanning the flames of a burning house." He stressed that politics should serve to reassure the public and ease anxiety, and that politicians must put people's livelihoods ahead of short-term political gain.