South Korea's Opposition Calls for Investigation Into Single-Stock Leveraged ETFs After Market Plunge on July 9

According to Yonhapinfomax, on July 9, South Korea's ruling party representative Zhang Donghyuk criticized single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) targeting Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as "the primary culprit turning our stock market into a gambling arena," calling for a full investigation into the product's approval process.

The stock market fell sharply on July 7-8. Zhang stated that experts warned of the products' risks beforehand, yet the Blue House pushed the launch ahead of local elections despite the known dangers. He alleged the product was approved by the Financial Commission within months of its proposal and released just before elections, with the National Pension Service being mobilized to prop up stocks. "Ultimately, retail investors who heeded the government's advice to invest with borrowed money became the biggest victims," he said.