Sim Sang-jung "High Speculation in Virtual Assets... Government Must Warn About Risks of Loan Investments"

Workers Should Be Made to Take Responsibility for Their Own Risks
Hard to View as Labor That Needs Protection

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Sim Sang-jung, the presidential candidate of the Justice Party, said on the 1st, "Virtual assets are speculative by nature, as they are literally virtual," and added, "The state should warn about their risks at the national level."

On the same day, Sim appeared on the YouTube channel "MZ Generation Presidential Candidate Reading Room: Sim Sang-jung Edition," jointly hosted by CoinDesk Korea and Upbit, and responded to questions about the youth's craze for coin investment.

She especially emphasized, "The state must take responsibility to inform that the risk of loss is greater when investing not only with one's spare money but also with borrowed funds, and investors themselves should bear responsibility for the risks."

She continued, "Blockchain is a new technology that the state should actively support through research and development investment, but virtual assets, which are risky assets without underlying assets, should not be nurtured. Instead, policies should be devised to reduce risks and protect investors more transparently and safely." However, Sim argued that virtual asset investment cannot be considered another form of 'labor.'

She said, "Although the era where labor and capital are clearly distinguished is no longer the case, earned income still accounts for an overwhelming 63% of current income, and out of 27 million economically active people, more than 20 million are workers. (Moreover) since virtual assets are highly speculative risky assets, it is difficult to consider them as labor that should be protected by policy," she stated.

Regarding her real estate pledge, Sim said, "We will supply 250,000 public housing units on joint sites in Seoul and its suburbs." Specifically, she explained, "There is a need to meet the housing demand of single-person households, but with other candidates' pledges, housing affordable to young people in their 20s and 30s cannot be expected by 2030," and pledged to supply various forms of public housing, including public rental apartments and public owner-occupied housing.

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