"Our capital market must now move beyond the Korea discount to a premium market. Aiming for the KOSPI 5000 era, we will build a fair and trusted market and support productive finance through the capital market."
At the "2026 securities and derivatives market opening ceremony" held at the Korea Exchange (KRX) in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 2nd, Chairperson Jeong Eun-bo of the Korea Exchange (KRX) said, "We will strengthen the competitiveness of the capital market," and stated accordingly.
Attending the ceremony were Financial Services Commission Chairperson Lee Eog-weon, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin, Korea Financial Investment Association Chairperson Hwang Seong-yeop, and NEXTRADE (NXT) CEO Kim Hak-soo, among other key financial market figures. Political figures, including Oh Ki-hyeong of the KOSPI 5000 Special Committee and Stock and Digital Assets Value-up Special Committee Chairperson Kim Sang-hoon, were also present.
Jeong said, "Despite uncertain internal and external conditions last year, our stock market broke through 4,000 points for the first time ever and achieved improvements in key indicators such as price-to-book ratio (PBR) and price-to-earnings ratio (PER)," adding, "Government policies to revitalize the capital market and efforts by market participants to protect shareholder value played a role."
Jeong presented three tasks for the Korean capital market to leap to a premium market with the goal of the KOSPI 5000 era.
First, the plan is to build a fair and trusted market. To that end, the exchange will introduce an artificial intelligence (AI)-based market surveillance system and, centered on the joint response team for stock price manipulation, root out unfair trading. It also emphasized that delisting procedures for insolvent companies will be further tightened.
Second, it plans to support productive finance through the capital market. Focusing on advanced strategic industries such as AI, energy, and aerospace, it will expand customized listings and strengthen programs to enhance corporate value so that corporations can be fairly valued, Jeong said.
Lastly, it set a goal of strengthening capital market competitiveness. "The competitive environment of the global capital market is changing rapidly," Jeong said, adding, "In response, we will extend trading hours and gradually establish a 24-hour trading system."
Jeong added, "To attract overseas investors, we will improve the convenience and appeal of transactions in the domestic market," and said, "We will prepare for the digital finance transition and continue to expand new products such as virtual asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures."
Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairperson Lee Eog-weon also said at the event, "This year, we will further bolster the enforcement capacity of the joint response team for stock price manipulation and push a one-strike-out policy on unfair trading so that the market fully recognizes that manipulation will certainly be detected and that once caught, the perpetrators will be ruined."
In addition, Lee said, "We will strengthen shareholder protection in split listings and support the principled cancellation of treasury shares, fostering a culture where ordinary shareholders fairly share in corporations' growth outcomes," adding, "We will expand and review the supply of venture capital by mega investment banks (corporate finance), support the market launch of business development companies (BDCs), and operate a public-private consultative body on security token offerings (STOs) to fully prepare the overall conditions by the date the law takes effect."