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Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party (PPP), speaks during a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on November 6. / Source: Lee Byunghwa

Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party, on November 6 urged President Lee Jae-myung to “fully disclose to the public the specifics of how the government will finance investments in the United States and the details of the negotiations.”

At a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly, Song asked how the administration plans to raise “the enormous sum of $20 billion every year,” saying repeated questions to the government have gone unanswered.

Citing returns on cash-like foreign assets at major public institutions, Song said the combined annual investment income at the Bank of Korea, Korea Development Bank, and Export-Import Bank of Korea amounts to about $9.5 billion—“still less than $10 billion”—falling short of the target for U.S.-bound investments.

He warned that executing such amounts annually could push the won weaker, undermine capacity to counter speculative attacks, and constrain the country’s defenses against any potential currency crisis.

Song added, “Surely you’re not thinking of dipping into the National Pension Service, which safeguards every citizen’s retirement,” insisting the government must “absolutely abandon any idea of using the pension as a funding source for U.S. investments.”

Invoking Article 60 of the Constitution, he said any such plan must obtain the National Assembly’s prior consent, arguing that the outflow of foreign currency on a “astronomical scale” would be a grave matter for the national economy.

He contended that the root of the problem lies in President Lee’s “hasty agreement” on a $350 billion investment plan without fully weighing foreign-exchange reserves or fiscal space, putting “taxpayer money and retirement savings at risk of being drained overseas.”

Separately, referencing the New York mayoral race result that saw the election of 30-something Muslim candidate Zohran Mamdani, Song said politics must serve the people, not “erase crimes,” urging the government and ruling party to focus on bread-and-butter reforms in housing, small business, mandatory retirement, and pensions rather than “oppressing the opposition.”