Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday called for a swift and thorough investigation into an allegation that Rep. Lee Choon-suak traded stocks under a borrowed name. Lee's instruction came a day after the lawmaker left the ruling Democratic Party following a press photo capturing him checking and trading stocks on a mobile phone using his aide's account, an allegation that has undermined the government's policy of promoting transparent trading practices in the stock market.
According to Yonhap News Agency, President Lee emphasized the seriousness of the matter in light of the allegations surrounding the lawmaker's stock trading activities. Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung conveyed during a press briefing that Lee has instructed the immediate removal of Rep. Lee from the presidential committee on policy planning.
Rep. Lee Choon-suak had been serving as the head of a subcommittee on science and artificial intelligence under the policy planning committee. His involvement in trading domestic tech stocks, including those of Naver Corp. and LG CNS Co., an information technology affiliate of LG Electronics Inc., has raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest given his position.