On November 3, President Lee Jaemyung issued an urgent directive to all government ministries to immediately halt the sale of government assets. He also ordered a comprehensive review of all ongoing or planned asset sales, with implementation to be reconsidered following this reassessment.
Choi Hwiyeong, government spokesperson and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, explained on November 3, "(President Lee) instructed that, in principle, sales should be refrained from except for assets that are unnecessary to retain. In cases where asset sales are unavoidable, prior approval from the Prime Minister must be obtained." The Ministry of Economy and Finance, which oversees national asset policy, will hold a briefing at 10 a.m. on November 4 to explain the background of this urgent directive.
The reasons behind President Lee's urgent directive have not yet been disclosed. However, some analysts suggest that the recent scrutiny of the Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO)'s asset sale process during the National Assembly audit may have influenced this decision. At the National Policy Committee audit of KAMCO held on October 23, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seungwon and others raised concerns that the number of cases where actual asset sale prices fall short of appraised values has been increasing every year.
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