Kim Chong-in: “Lee has said too much about real estate and stock prices ... and could suffer a crushing defeat in a general election like Trump”

[Financial News] On the 9th, Kim Chong-in, former chair of the People Power Party’s emergency committee, called on President Lee Jae Myung to rein in his excessive remarks on real estate and stock prices and focus on people’s livelihoods. In particular, Kim cited livelihood issues as the reason President Donald Trump’s Republican Party suffered a crushing defeat in the U.S. midterm elections, warning that Lee could face the same result in the 2028 general election.
Appearing on YTN Radio that day, Kim said, “The thing President Lee should be most concerned about and prepare thoroughly for is how he will handle the 2028 general election,” adding, “When a president takes too much interest in too many minor matters, the government cannot be run properly.”
Kim pointed out that President Lee’s messages on real estate and the stock market were coming too frequently. “A president shouldn’t keep making this or that comment about economic variables, especially stock prices,” Kim said. “The president talked so much that he got people interested in stocks, and then when things turned out like that one day, investors were quite bewildered.” Kim also cited real estate tax policy as one of the main reasons the Democratic Party lost in Seoul in the previous local elections. “People say housing prices are plunging because prices in Gangnam are falling, but in reality, prices in Gangbuk have risen considerably,” Kim said. “It would be better if the president did not talk about a situation in one area as if it affected everything.”
Kim also criticized the legislation on the Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Prosecution and Judicial Reform, led by the Democratic Party, saying their political motives were apparent to the public. Regarding the Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Prosecution, Kim said, “Since the Democratic Party holds a majority in the legislature, it can pass the bill whenever it wants,” but added, “It needs to think calmly in advance about what outcome a special counsel investigation would produce.” On measures including a constitutional complaint against court decisions and the crime of distorting the law, he said, “These are things that would not be needed under normal circumstances,” and claimed, “The general public knows why they were made into law and what their purpose is.”
Kim identified the “affordability” problem—the burden of living costs—as the reason for President Trump’s defeat in the midterms, stressing, “President Lee also needs to pay more attention to people’s daily lives.” He continued, “If an outcome like the one Trump is facing in the midterms this time comes about, whatever is done now could end up being meaningless,” and warned, “President Yoon Suk Yeol took office and, after two years without any real sense of the situation, went into the 2024 general election. The opposition party won a majority, and it ultimately led to impeachment. President Yoon must not repeat the mistakes he made.”
[email protected] Song Ji-won Reporter