Lee In-young "Short selling should be restricted until the COVID-19 situation calms down"

Lee In-young, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the joint meeting of the floor leaders' strategy meeting and standing committee secretaries held at the National Assembly on the 10th, delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kang Nahum and Jeon Jinyoung] On the 10th, Lee In-young, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, requested the government to "actively consider temporarily restricting short selling until the COVID-19 situation subsides," in response to the global stock market plunge.

At the party floor strategy meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Lee said, "When the Korean stock market is highly unstable, some groups tend to abuse the short selling system, causing further market confusion."

He added, "Our country's short selling system is institutionally skewed significantly against individual investors compared to institutional investors, creating an uneven playing field, and disputes over fairness have continued without end. The government must undertake a comprehensive reform of the short selling system," emphasizing the need for reform.

Regarding the supplementary budget review for COVID-19 response, Lee said, "There is growing demand for direct cash support in the form of 'disaster basic income,' and economic circles such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry have proposed expanding the supplementary budget to 40 trillion won. We will listen to these voices and proceed with the budget review accordingly."

He continued, "If the ruling and opposition parties work together during the standing committee and budget committee review process to expand the scope of support for COVID-19 victims and affected companies and to make the support amounts more realistic, we demand that the government actively accept this."

Lee also stated that the party would temporarily suspend election campaigning and focus its efforts on supporting quarantine measures. He said, "Starting today, except for the supplementary budget review and essential bill subcommittees, routine floor activities will be suspended. We will mobilize all party resources to fully switch to a quarantine support system."

He added, "To end the suffering of the people as soon as possible, we will suspend usual election campaigns and fully engage in quarantine support activities involving all Democratic Party members nationwide. We will concentrate party efforts on helping local communities with disinfection and quarantine activities, mask-making campaigns, support for self-employed businesses, and assistance to marginalized facilities."

Lee also issued a warning message to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. He said, "Chairman Lee Man-hee's promise of cooperation is not being properly kept on site. Instead, the Shincheonji side's non-cooperation is continuously being revealed like a string of sweet potato stems. Precious administrative resources that should protect the safety of the people must no longer be wasted searching for concealed facilities and believers of Shincheonji," he emphasized.

He continued, "Yesterday, at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, an employee who concealed their status as a believer came to work and was confirmed positive, leading to the hospital's closure. I clearly warn that if the public is deceived again, they will face unbearable consequences."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.