Korea's export-led growth continues at a brisk clip this year, and the government moves in tandem to advance capital market innovation, Prime Minister Han Seong-sook said at the latest edition of The Korea Herald's HIT Forum on Tuesday.
In a video message marking the forum's opening, Han called the theme, "Korea Premium: Connecting Korean Opportunities with Global Capital," well-timed and parallel to the direction the government hopes to take the market.
"Forecasts point to Korea's economy growing in the 3 percent range this year, driven by a semiconductor boom and strong exports," Han said. "The government is also working to build greater innovation and trust in the capital market."
Han thanked forum participants, including Herald Media Group CEO Choi Jin-young, for organizing the event, where experts and investors discussed shedding Korea's market discount and drawing greater foreign investment.
She went on to explain that four policy pillars anchor the push: trust and shareholder protection, innovation and wider market access.
"We are focusing our capabilities on fundamentally improving the structural makeup of the capital market," Han said, citing a joint response team against stock manipulation and uncapped whistleblower rewards as steps already taken.
To protect ordinary shareholders, the Commercial Act has been revised three times, adding directors' fiduciary duty to shareholders and requiring treasury shares to be retired in principle.
"Going forward, we will continue to establish a fair and transparent market order and spread a corporate culture that respects shareholder value," Han said, adding that the government would work to build a market environment where innovative companies can grow.
Part of that effort runs through the National Growth Fund, a megasized investment vehicle for nurturing key industrial sectors across artificial intelligence, semiconductors, aerospace and biotechnology.
Han called for Korea's capital market to grow into one that citizens trust and the world backs with real investment, urging forum participants to lend their expertise toward that shared goal.
"The government will spare no effort to move past the 'Korea Premium' and build an 'irreplaceable Korea,'" Han said.
minmin@heraldcorp.com
