By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak's advice to buy stocks now may not be very timely for investors, given conventional wisdom, said Rep. Koh Seung-duk of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) Wednesday.
Koh, author of the best-selling book ``Lawyer Koh's Lecture on Stock Investment,'' said on a radio program that he would not rule out the possibility that stock prices might drop further than current prices in the first half of next year.
``Conventional stock market wisdom says no one actually knows when stock prices will hit rock bottom,'' he said, hinting that Lee's optimistic forecast of the market situation might not be correct.
Koh, however, defended President Lee, saying he might not mean for people to invest in the stock market.
``President Lee probably wanted to say that the economy will get better if policymakers are pushing for reform with optimism and hope and the public supports it,'' he said.
President Lee's upbeat prediction of next year's stock market situation spurred Koh to make the analysis.
Lee said in a meeting with Korean residents in Los Angeles Tuesday that now was the time to buy stocks, as doing so would help investors achieve high returns in a year's time.
``Stock prices have fallen significantly. Therefore, now is the time to buy them. If you buy stocks now, you will become rich in a year,'' he was quoted as saying.
The President clarified his remark, saying he was not intending to advise people to buy stocks but meant that this was the case, at least in theory.
Rep. Choi Jae-sung, spokesman of the largest opposition Democratic Party (DP), called Lee's remark ``words that have no substance.''
``The President said the economy is going to be fine and that everything will be O.K. But he doesn't present how his government will make this happen,'' he said.
Choi accused Lee of lacking credibility, which he pinpointed as one of core qualities needed for a national leader.
``I would recommend that President Lee and GNP lawmakers buy stocks now to demonstrate they truly support the President's observation,'' he said.
Park Seung-eop, spokesman of the minor Democratic Labor Party, commented that Lee's remark was paradoxical.
``President Lee encouraged people to buy stocks, saying we are going through a severe economic crisis which we could only see once in our lifetime,'' he said.
His words simply do not make sense, he insisted.