Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Financial regulators, companies showcase vision for Korean market to global investors
Officials from Korea's financial authorities, local governments and financial institutions pose during an investment briefing event at Conrad New York Downtown, Thursday (local time). They are, from left, Busan Finance Center President Rhee Myong-ho, Samsung Life Insurance CEO Hong Won-hak, Mirae Asset Securities Vice Chairman Kim Mi-seop, Carlyle Group CEO Harvey Schwartz, KB Financial Group Chairman Yang Jong-hee, Consul General of New York State Kim Ui-hwan, Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun, Korea Exchange CEO Jeong Eun-bo, Seoul Metropolitan Government's Deputy Mayor Kang Cheol-won, Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong, Morgan Stanley Co-President Daniel Simkowitz, Korea Investment & Securities CEO Kim Sung-hwan, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Vice Chairman Cho Yong-il, and JP Morgan Korea Senior Country Officer Kim Ki-joon. Courtesy of FSS
By Anna J. Park
Top officials from financial firms, city governments of Seoul, Busan join investor relations event
Korea's financial authorities and the heads of the country's major financial institutions met global institutional investors from Wall Street and New York to present their ambitious visions for the Corporate Value-Up Program, a government-led initiative seeking to propel the Korean stock market to new heights, according to the authorities, Sunday.
Aiming to spotlight the strengths of Korea's capital market and industry to global investors, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Korea Exchange (KRX) held an investor relations event in New York, Thursday, in collaboration with the city governments of Seoul and Busan and the financial industry.
While promoting the value-up plan to global investors, the event also aimed to demonstrate the support financial regulators are providing to Korean financial companies eyeing overseas expansion, as well as showcasing the attractiveness of the cities of Seoul and Busan to global financial firms.
The FSS said the event drew over 300 investment specialists, including more than 240 executives and employees representing global investment firms like Carlyle Group, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley.
"The goals pursued by Korea's financial industry — K-Finance — are reliability, innovation, and openness," FSS Governor Lee Bok-hyun said during a speech at the event.
"Through a series of policies aimed at advancing the country's stock markets, Korea seeks to upgrade the reliability and innovation of its financial sector. These efforts also aim to foster greater openness by leveraging increased investments from global investors, the growing presence of foreign financial institutions in Korea, and the overseas expansion of domestic financial institutions," he added.
Lee emphasized that financial authorities are committed to enhancing the transparency of the Korean market and regulatory system to align better with global standards. This will be achieved through various improvements, including strengthening disclosure rules, safeguarding minority shareholders, abolishing mandatory registrations for foreign investors, refining the reporting system, and more.
Jeong Eun-bo, the head of the KRX, the bourse operator, also emphasized that the government's value-up initiative aims to address the so-called "Korea discount" — referring to the persistent undervaluation of Korean stocks — so that the phenomenon could be transformed into the "Korea premium."
"Through the Corporate Value-Up Program, companies will set their own goals that are appropriate to their circumstances and establish strategies to enhance their corporate value, enabling investors to receive accurate information and to make better-informed investment decisions. This will lead to fairer evaluations of the Korean capital market and result in increased investments in these companies," Jeong said, vowing that the stock exchange will stand by investors from a long-term perspective until the Korea discount transforms into a premium.
Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Lee Bok-hyun, third from right, speaks at a panel discussion during an investment briefing event at Conrad New York Downtown, jointly organized by the financial authorities and financial industry as well as the cities of Seoul and Busan, Thursday (local time). Courtesy of FSS
Investor relations meetings between participating financial companies and global investors also took place during the event.
Key industry leaders, representing banking, investment and insurance sectors, engaged in exchanges of opinions with global investors during a Q&A session. They included KB Financial Group Chairman Yang Jong-hee, Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong, Samsung Life Insurance CEO Hong Won-hak, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Vice Chairman Cho Yong-il, Mirae Asset Securities Vice Chairman Kim Mi-seop and Korea Investment & Securities CEO Kim Sung-hwan.
The FSS chief and the KRX head held in-depth discussions with global investors, covering a wide range of topics from policy issues such as the government's ban on short selling and real estate project financing to their assessments of the Korean market's risk management capabilities.
Meanwhile, the FSS governor voiced his agreement with the policy direction advocating for the resumption of short selling, which is currently completely banned in Korea. He emphasized its importance for market efficiency and its potential to boost the overall trading volume of stock markets.
His comments came during a meeting with reporters after the joint investor relations event in New York.
"There is a technical time frame for establishing a central system to automatically block illegal short selling, and it also takes time to revise laws," Lee said. "We are considering whether it is possible to revise regulations or decrees without amending the law. Personally, I think we may resume short selling in June or partially resume it. Even if we cannot resume short selling, we will communicate with the market about our future plans."