President Lee Jaemyung: "Domestic Stock Market Unstable, Why Are We Not Included in MSCI?"

President Lee Stresses the Need to Accelerate
the Stock Price Suppression Prevention Bill on July 15 Work Report

On July 15, President Lee Jaemyung stated, "The domestic stock market is quite unstable," adding, "Because there has been an unprecedented surge over a short period, it will take time and volatility for the market to stabilize."

At the '2026 Second Half Government Ministry Work Report' held at the State Guest House at the Blue House that day, President Lee explained, "This time, we were not included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index." He went on to say, "MSCI inclusion would help stabilize the stock market, so why is this not progressing well?"

At the end of last month, MSCI announced the results of this year’s market classification, including the Korean stock market in the emerging markets category. The reasons for not listing Korea on the watch list for developed market indexes included the limitations on 24-hour won currency exchange, among others.

Yonhap News Agency

Koo Yooncheol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, responded, "We need to stabilize the capital market, and there are also risks in the foreign exchange market." He added, "Since we are proceeding at our own pace and pursuing the practical benefits of joining the MSCI index, such issues have arisen."

When President Lee asked about the biggest obstacle, Deputy Prime Minister Koo replied, "Foreign investors are asking to be able to trade the won 24 hours a day." President Lee then asked again, "Will this be resolved just with the passage of time?" and Deputy Prime Minister Koo answered, "We can have countermeasures ready by early next year."

President Lee further emphasized, "The normalization and advancement of the capital market are extremely important national policies," adding, "The proportion of real estate in asset allocation is still too high. It is primitive."

President Lee continued, "There is no developed country where everyone is so focused on real estate," and pointed out, "When available resources are tied up in real estate, extremely unreasonable outcomes occur in terms of economic growth and resource allocation."

President Lee also addressed government ministries, saying, "It seems that the law to prevent stock price suppression is not being enacted. The legislation is being delayed," and instructed, "Coordinate efforts to speed up the process."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.