FSS Criticized for 'Election Interference'... Lee Bok-hyun Responds, "Is the Full Moon Round Because of the Finger?"

"Allegations Against Candidate Yang Mun-seok, Ignoring Them Would Be a Cause for Criticism"
"Claims of Election Interference Difficult to Understand from the Head of Financial Supervisory Authority"
"This Incident Could Be Verified Within 2-3 Days"

On the 5th, Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, held a back briefing regarding the Saemaeul Geumgo illicit loan suspicion incident after the signing ceremony of a business agreement between the telecommunications and financial sectors to strengthen response and cooperation against financial crimes infringing on people's livelihoods, held at the Korea Federation of Banks in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), rebutted claims that the investigation into Yang Moon-seok, the Democratic Party candidate for Ansan Gap, regarding allegations of irregular loans from Saemaeul Geumgo, was election interference, saying it is "like saying the full moon is round because of the finger pointing at it."

On the afternoon of the 5th, after attending a ceremony for a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation and response to financial crimes affecting people's livelihoods, held at the Korea Federation of Banks in Jung-gu, Seoul, Lee made these remarks during a back briefing related to the allegations of irregular loans from Saemaeul Geumgo involving candidate Yang. He emphasized, "The FSS is an institution that identifies issues related to accounting and finance. It is difficult to accept voices criticizing the observer," adding, "If there is a problem with Saemaeul Geumgo and it was ignored, then criticism is justified."

He continued, "It is hard to understand from the perspective of running an institution that we are being criticized simply for swiftly detecting and raising issues about real problems." Earlier, Lee Hae-chan, the Democratic Party's co-chairman of the election campaign committee, criticized the allegations against candidate Yang and the FSS investigation as blatant and shameless election manipulation.

Lee also refuted claims that the investigation results were announced unusually quickly. He said, "Since my appointment in 2022, have there been cases like embezzlement in the banking sector or the equity-linked securities (ELS) incident where investigations were delayed?" adding, "If I had been able to decide the timing of this investigation, I would have released it last week."

He added, "Since it was already concluded to be illegal, we could not wait any longer," and explained, "From the perspective of the FSS's investigative capabilities, this case could be sufficiently confirmed in about 2 to 3 days, and it was the size of a case where you just need to put your hand on your heart and do just that much."

Meanwhile, regarding the timing of the final announcement related to candidate Yang's allegations, Lee responded cautiously. He said, "When a case is referred and notified to investigative agencies, there are times when coordination with those agencies is necessary," adding, "It is difficult for us to unilaterally say when it will be."

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