Visit to the Exchange on the Morning of the 25th: "Urging Strengthened Support Policies for Ordinary Citizens Instead of Tax Cuts for Large Corporations and Super Rich
Need for Institutional Improvements to Ensure Fair Operation of Short Selling for Stock Market Stability"
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] "I cannot shake the feeling that the (Yoon Suk-yeol administration's) economic and livelihood measures are going in the wrong direction. The government is implementing super-rich tax cuts that deepen polarization and policies that reduce support for ordinary citizens. They are pursuing policies like a contrarian frog, specifically a red contrarian frog, and I urge the government to change its stance."
Lee Jae-myung, the senior advisor and a candidate for the Democratic Party leadership, on the 25th visited the Korea Exchange in Yeouido to inspect the capital market scene, stating, "At its core, the economic and livelihood crisis largely stems from polarization, inequality, and unfairness," adding, "When there is a crisis, it is the role of politics to overcome it, but our government's policies are going in the opposite direction."
Regarding the corporate tax cut policy, Lee pointed out, "Corporate tax is levied on operating profits, but by narrowing the highest tax bracket, large corporations with operating profits exceeding 300 billion won have received tax cut benefits." He also criticized the change in the major shareholder criteria for capital gains tax on stock investments (from the previous 1 billion won to 10 billion won) as "a policy for the super-rich." He raised concerns, saying, "In this situation, the government announced a plan to completely cut the budget for local currency that supports ordinary citizens."
Lee said, "Looking at the tax cut policy for large corporations and the reduction of support for ordinary citizens, it seems to mean deepening polarization," and added, "Rather than removing the causes of the crisis, turning the crisis into an opportunity by intensifying the causes is like a contrarian frog, specifically a 'red contrarian frog' policy."
Regarding the stock market, Lee criticized, "In a situation where stock prices are plummeting, the government took a laissez-faire attitude rather than making efforts to stabilize the market, causing huge damage even to small investors." He also pointed out, "Even though a fund exceeding 10 trillion won was established to stabilize the stock market, not deploying it raises doubts about what efforts the government is making." He emphasized, "A temporary ban on short selling should be implemented immediately to be effective, and it is very regrettable that it is still only under review."
After finishing his visit to the exchange and meeting with reporters, Lee stressed, "It is necessary to improve the system so that short selling itself operates fairly to stabilize the stock market."
He also emphasized the fairness and transparency of the stock market. Lee said, "The undervaluation of the Korean stock market (Korea Discount) is a chronic problem of the Republic of Korea's economy," and added, "The biggest cause is unfairness and opacity, such as stock price manipulation." He continued, "Ensuring fairness and transparency in the capital market is essential for integrating into an advanced economic system," and emphasized, "The Democratic Party will do its best to improve unfair trading and opaque markets."
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