Lee Bok-hyun, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, noted that volatility in the financial markets could increase ahead of the U.S. government's anticipated announcement of mutual tariff administrative orders, urging for enhanced close monitoring.
On the 1st, Lee held an executive meeting at the FSS headquarters and said, "Market volatility may persist for a considerable period, depending on negotiations and responses from various countries following the announcement of the Trump tariff policy."
Lee emphasized, "We must closely monitor trends regarding U.S. tariff policies and responses," adding, "Uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariff policies could lead to decreased corporate investment sentiment and downward economic forecasts, so we need to closely examine the impact on the domestic economy and different industries and strengthen cooperation with related agencies."
He further remarked, "As a reaction to uncertainty surrounding Trump policies, there is an observed movement of global funds to countries like Europe and China, which are actively pursuing economic stimulus, weakening U.S. exceptionalism," and said, "We need to create conditions for global investment funds to flow into our undervalued domestic market through discussions on economic revitalization and steadfast advancement of capital market modernization and shareholder protection."
Regarding the full resumption of short selling, Lee said, "Although volatility in the domestic stock market has increased, short selling contributes to discovering prices and increasing liquidity, thereby reducing market volatility in the long term, so it must be actively explained to alleviate concerns." He further stated, "We need to strengthen relevant market measures in consultation with related agencies for stocks with a surge in short selling, and thoroughly monitor illegal short selling through the Short Selling Central Monitoring System (NSDS)."
Lee commented on household debt, stating, "The influence of the recent short-term surge in housing prices and transaction volumes in some areas of Seoul and the metropolitan area is gradually being reflected in household loans starting from the latter part of March with a time lag," and stressed, "We need to monitor and inspect loan applications, approvals, and transactions by region more closely."