'Fantasy KOSPI 5000' Becomes Reality, Na Kyung-won Blasts Government: "Is This a Time for Self-Congratulation? Shameless"

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The Financial News reported that on the 23rd, People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won criticized the government over the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surpassing 5,000 points for the first time in history, saying, "Are they toasting themselves just because the index has gone up? It is shameless."
Posting on her social networking service (SNS) account the same day, Na wrote, "The KOSPI breaking through 5,000 deserves recognition as an achievement made by our companies despite difficult conditions. However, while the index is soaring, the value of the won is falling toward 1,500 won per dollar, and grocery prices are surging toward 5%."
Pointing out that "Last year's fourth-quarter growth rate was -0.3%, a contraction and the sixth-worst performance on record, and per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) also fell by 0.3%," Na warned, "We must not ignore concerns that KOSPI 5000 could be a time of illusion that ordinary people do not feel in their daily lives."
She went on to ask, "If the index is at 5,000, why are people’s bank accounts not growing? Has the real economy improved to the same extent?" and, "Why is the dream of owning a home drifting further away, and why are job openings shrinking?" Na argued, "The government keeps borrowing to fund repeated expansionary budgets, and is mobilizing all kinds of coupons, cash handouts, pension funds, and even tax measures to push the index higher."
She added, "The money supply has been loosened to the limit, causing the won to plunge, and there are serious concerns about an asset bubble in which a weak currency inflates exporters’ earnings and makes only the index look dazzling. The Yellow Envelope Law, the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, the worker presumption rule, the rigid 52-hour maximum workweek regulation, and the mandatory cancellation of treasury shares under the Commercial Code—these and all kinds of anti-market, anti-business regulations are being tightened by the day," stressing, "While tying down companies hand and foot, trying to package KOSPI 5000 as a self-serving success story is simply inconsistent."
Finally, Na declared, "With high exchange rates, high prices, and all sorts of regulations undermining corporate profitability, are they really toasting themselves just because the index has risen despite their own hypocritical, anti-market, anti-business regulations? It is shameless," adding, "It is too early for fireworks. Now is the time to thoroughly examine whether the achievement of KOSPI 5000 is merely an illusion created by liquidity and excessive optimism."
bng@fnnews.com Kim Hee-sun Reporter