President Lee Jae-myung said on the 11th that, to normalize the stock market, those who manipulated stock prices will have "not only their profits but also the principal they invested confiscated."
At a news conference marking the 100th day in office held at the state guesthouse at Cheong Wa Dae on the morning of the day, the president said, "We must minimize distrust of the domestic stock market. We intend to make it crystal clear that stock price manipulation will be publicly disclosed and punished very strictly so that it ruins perpetrators," making the remarks above.
The president made the comments in response to a question asking, "What do you think about the view that the National Pension Service should be used to normalize the domestic stock market?" The point was that normalizing the stock market must come first to increase investments in the domestic stock market by pension funds such as the National Pension Service.
The president said, "It seems domestic pension funds are not buying because of distrust in the domestic stock market," adding, "Currently, when stock prices are manipulated, only the profits are confiscated, but we will have even the principal invested in the manipulation confiscated."
He went on to stress, "It already exists, but I heard it has not been enforced because it was considered too harsh. Going forward, even if there are no profits, we will confiscate the principal invested in stock price manipulation," and added, "Recently, trust in the domestic stock market has been gradually building, and as that trust grows, the stock market is also normalizing."