(JoongAng Ilbo, October 13, 2026) Yoo Seung-min on the KOSPI Plunge: "The Public's Retirement Assets — I Worry About the National Pension"

Former Representative Yoo Seung-min of the People Power Party voiced concern on the 13th, the day the KOSPI broke below the 6,000 mark during intraday trading, saying, "From the public's point of view, the worry is the National Pension, their retirement asset."

In a Facebook post that day, former Representative Yoo wrote, "Stock prices have fallen for a fifth straight day, and the 6,000 mark collapsed during the session," and argued that the principle of independence in managing the National Pension Fund's assets had been undermined.

The KOSPI plunged more than 6% intraday that day, breaking below 6,000. According to the Korea Exchange, as of 11:15 a.m. the KOSPI stood at 5,985.51, down 6.25% from the previous day. The two semiconductor heavyweights were also plunging 7–8%. Samsung Electronics was trading at 231,750 won, down 7.49% from the previous day, and SK Hynix at 1,488,000 won, down 8.54%.

View original With the KOSPI plunging more than 7% and falling below the 6000 mark for the first time in about two months on October 13, dealers are at work in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul. Newsis

Former Representative Yoo said, "The National Pension Fund's assets grew by 326 trillion won, from 1,540 trillion won in January to 1,866 trillion won in June, then shrank by 182 trillion won in a single month to 1,684 trillion won in July,"

adding, "Of this, domestic equities grew by 213 trillion won, from 330 trillion won in January to 543 trillion won in June, then shrank by 125 trillion won to 419 trillion won in July."

He went on, "The share of domestic equities went from 21.4% in January to 29.1% in June and 24.9% in July," adding, "Last May the National Pension Fund Management Committee raised the ceiling on the domestic equity share from 14.9% to 20.8%, yet in every single month from January through July the National Pension did not even keep within that ceiling."

He also pointed out, "During this period — when the National Pension, perhaps expecting domestic share prices to rise without end, raised its ceiling on domestic equities and then failed to observe even that raised ceiling itself — foreign investors sold heavily on a net basis and realized enormous gains."

"While foreign investors pulled a hit-and-run, our National Pension alone failed to follow its rebalancing principle and squandered the public's retirement savings," former Representative Yoo said,

adding, "This is a serious problem that arose because the principles of 'stability, profitability and independence' in managing the National Pension Fund's assets were undermined. Those responsible must be held to account."

View original Former Representative Yoo Seung-min of the People Power Party on Facebook on October 13 (screen capture)

"As to who decided to introduce the single-stock leveraged products on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix that caused extreme volatility in the stock market, President Lee Jae-myung says, 'Someone must have decided,' as if it were someone else's business and he had nothing to do with it," he said,

and criticized, "When National Pension assets grew on rising share prices, they said 'there is no need for structural reform of the National Pension,' but now that the assets have shrunk, they keep their mouths firmly shut."

He continued, "The National Pension Fund Management Committee is chaired by the Minister of Health and Welfare and is made up of vice ministers from related ministries, representatives of employers, workers and the insured, and experts," and stressed,

"We must investigate and get to the truth of who on earth decided to raise the ceiling on the domestic equity share, and why;

who inflicted enormous losses on the National Pension by undermining the rebalancing principle; and whether there was outside political pressure — and hold those responsible to account."

Former Representative Yoo also cited a case from the Park Geun-hye administration.

"Under the Park administration, the Minister of Health and Welfare and the National Pension Service's Chief Investment Officer had to serve prison sentences, convicted of the crime of bringing the pressure of power and government to bear on the National Pension's exercise of voting rights on the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries," he said,

adding, "As a result, Korea lost the ISDS case brought by the U.S. private fund Elliott and ended up paying more than 150 billion won in damages."

He went on to say, "This is a mega-scale accident that has inflicted damage on the public incomparably greater than that case," and that the truth must be uncovered and legal responsibility pursued.

"Only then," he said, "will no one ever again play a dangerous game with fire using the public's retirement savings."

Reporter Cho Mun-gyu [email protected]

https://n.news.naver.com/article/025/0003557538?sid=100