Korea Premium Weeks Opens... President Lee Vows to Make Korea the Most Attractive Market in Asia

Three-week Event Kicks Off Today

Highlights Achievements such as Commercial Act Amendments

Foreign Investors: "Korean Stock Market Has More Room to Grow"

"We will do our utmost to create a transparent and fair market environment, enabling Korea to rise as the most attractive capital market in Asia."

On September 28, President Lee Jaemyung stated through a video message at 'Korea Premium Weeks 2026,' the nation's largest capital market IR event held at The Grand Lotte Seoul, that "the capital market is more than a venue for transactions; it is a core driver injecting growth potential into our nation."

This event, co-hosted by the Financial Services Commission and Korea Exchange, was organized for the first time this year with the aim of promoting the competitiveness of Korea's capital markets globally and establishing a communication channel. A total of 42 organizations, including stock market-related institutions, financial investment companies, and media outlets, along with 55 listed companies, are participating. The event will take place from today until October 16 at The Grand Lotte Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul, at the Korea Exchange (KRX) Seoul headquarters, and at Lotte Hotel Busan.

President Lee stated, "The Korean government has pursued sweeping regulatory innovations to resolve the so-called 'Korea Discount,' a structural limitation of our domestic capital markets, and to shift toward a 'Korea Premium.' We have substantially enhanced shareholder protection through repeated amendments to commercial law and restored market confidence by intensifying crackdowns and penalties on unfair trading practices."

During the event, foreign investors gave high praise for the growth of Korea’s stock market. Kevin Sneader, President of Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), remarked, "A year ago, I talked about the journey towards the KOSPI surpassing 5,000, but now reality has exceeded expectations. The KOSPI has reached the 7,000 level, increasing by over 60% this year, making it the world’s eighth-largest market by market capitalization."

Foreign investors also expressed expectations that the Korean stock market will continue to grow. Joud Abdel Majeid, Co-head of the BlackRock Global Partner’s Office, stated, "Korea is shifting to 24-hour foreign exchange trading and establishing a foreign investor registration system, thereby improving access for global investors. Investor confidence is driven not only by reforms and policy but also by predictability and consistency of understanding, and Korea is moving to the next stage."

Ken Fisher, Chairman of Fisher Investments, also commented, "Language barriers remain for investors, but the expansion of English-language disclosures will encourage more global investors to invest in Korea. I hope this event serves as a foundation for ongoing improvements to our regulatory systems."

The event also included insights on policy direction for the capital market. Jeong Eun-Bo, Chairman of Korea Exchange, emphasized, "With capital flows across borders becoming more active, competition among global capital markets is fiercer than ever. This month, we launched Asia’s first regular-session aftermarket and will gradually expand towards a 24-hour trading system." He added, "We are working to shorten the settlement cycle for the stock market to align with advanced trading environments, and we plan to proactively build and operate a tokenized securities (STO) platform in response to the spread of digital assets."

Yoo Dongsoo, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, also stated, "We will work to pass amendments to the Capital Markets Act that introduce a mandatory tender offer system for general shareholders and enhance the corporate value of companies with low price-to-book ratios (PBR). We will pay close attention to digital asset legislation so that our market does not fall behind advanced countries strategically nurturing digital assets."

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