Seoul Mayor Criticizes Korean Government for Allowing Leverage Products to Impact Stock Market

According to Yonhap News Agency, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon issued a statement sharply criticizing the leveraged derivative products that have caused severe volatility in the Korean stock market, as well as President Lee Jae-myung’s proposed policy of “aggressively reducing debt.” He urged the government to formulate fundamental countermeasures as soon as possible. Oh noted that the KOSPI index has triggered the program trading circuit breaker mechanism 37 times this year, surpassing the record of 26 times during the entire 2008 global financial crisis.

Oh Se-hoon criticized, “The government, fully aware of the enormous risks associated with single-stock leveraged derivative products, still approved their listing. It stood idly by while retail investors’ assets continued to evaporate, ultimately leading to the current situation.”