Senior lawmaker faces allegations of proxy stock trading during Assembly session

Rep. Lee Choon-suak, a four-term lawmaker from the Democratic Party and chair of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, is facing allegations of trading stocks under another person’s name during a plenary session on Aug. 4. A photo released by a local media outlet on Aug. 5 showed Lee looking down and operating his phone while the session was in progress. The report alleged that he executed multiple split trades of Naver shares in lots of five, checked real-time price quotes, and even placed correction orders during the meeting.

The incident immediately drew comparisons to the 2023 scandal involving former Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk, who faced public outrage for trading cryptocurrency during a standing committee meeting. This time, however, the controversy involves a senior lawmaker in a key leadership position.

The suspicion extends beyond inappropriate behavior to potential violations of law. The account used for the trades reportedly belonged not to Lee, but to his aide, identified only as Cha. According to reports, the purchases exceeded 100 million won ($72,500). The opposition People Power Party accused Lee of engaging in an illegal nominee account transaction, calling it a “serious crime that undermines small investors,” and demanded his resignation as committee chair. The party said it would file an ethics complaint and a criminal referral under the Real-Name Financial Transactions Act and the Public Service Ethics Act.

Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae has ordered the party’s ethics inspection team to launch an urgent inquiry. The Lee Jae Myung administration has promoted its goal of ushering in a “KOSPI 5000” era, and any perception of insider or proxy trading by senior lawmakers could carry serious political repercussions. Public records from March showed that Lee and his family declared no stock holdings. If the allegations of nominee ownership prove true, the issue could escalate beyond ethics to legal accountability.

Lee apologized for opening a stock-trading app during the session but denied making trades through another person’s account. His aide claimed that Lee had mistakenly taken the aide’s phone into the chamber and opened the trading screen by accident. The explanation has drawn widespread skepticism.

Complicating matters is Lee’s role as head of the Economy Division 2 under the presidential National Policy Planning Committee, which oversees a task force on artificial intelligence policy. The stocks captured in the photos were reportedly linked to the “National AI Project” announced a day earlier, raising potential conflict-of-interest concerns.

The controversy has cast an early shadow over the ruling party during a politically sensitive period. Public attention is now on whether the Democratic Party will thoroughly investigate the allegations and hold its senior lawmaker accountable.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.