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| Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, left, and main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol applaud during a New Year's bourse opening ceremony at the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Yeouido, Monday. Yonhap |
KOSPI, KOSDAQ both close higher on first day of 2022
By Anna J. Park
Korea's two leading presidential candidates started the first week of the year by jointly attending the New Year opening ceremony of the stock market held at the Seoul office of the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Monday morning.
Seeking to appeal to some 10 million retail investors in the country, both candidates wore red face masks ― which were provided by the KRX ― as well as red neck ties, signifying their wishes for a bullish market this year. In Korea, stock gains are marked in red, while losses are shown in blue.
They each delivered a five-minute speech prior to participating in a countdown to the opening of stock trading at 10 a.m. Monday. Local stock markets usually open at 9 a.m., but was delayed by an hour on Monday.
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| Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung delivers his speech during a New Year's bourse opening ceremony held at the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Yeouido, Monday. Yonhap |
In his speech, ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung stressed the need to boost investors' trust in the market, by taking stern measures to crack down on stock market manipulation.
"Often, the country's retail investors, who now number around 10 million, leave the market after feeling alienated or backstabbed. In order to resolve such matters, the market needs to secure transparency," Lee said at the opening ceremony.
"It is important to assure minor shareholders that they won't be harmed by some major shareholders' manipulations or uncontrollable power by the market," he added, stressing he hopes to bring about an era of the KOSPI index reaching 5,000 points.
The former governor of Gyeonggi Province said he will prioritize eliminating the causes of the so-called Korea discount ― the tendency of Korean stocks to be generally undervalued due to perceived risks. He also vowed to streamline market regulations so that companies could bear the fruits of innovation.
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| Main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol delivers a speech during a New Year's bourse opening ceremony held at the Korea Exchange (KRX) on Yeouido, Monday. Yonhap |
Main opposition People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol urged for caution against populism and anti-corporatism.
"Recently, we see signs of pervasive populism as well as anti-corporate sentiments that aim to put shackles on corporate activities," Yoon said during his speech at the ceremony.
"As an out-of-date political and economic systems have also been the core causes of the Korea discount, the country needs to continuously put efforts to improve the opaqueness of corporate governance and low trust in accounting management," he added.
The prosecutor-turned-politician also vowed to efficiently streamline some features of the local market, such as inconveniences in foreign exchange transactions.
Meanwhile, the benchmark KOSPI finished at 2,988.77 points, up 0.37 percent, on the first trading day of this year. Both foreign and retail investors net-purchased 270.3 billion won ($226 million) and 519 billion won, worth of local stocks, respectively. Only institutional investors net sold 813 billion worth of local stocks on Monday.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also logged an increase of 0.37 percent on Monday, finishing at 1,037.83 points. Only retail investors net-purchased 396 billion won worth of KOSDAQ-listed stocks on Monday, while foreign investors and institutional investors net sold 216 billion won and 171 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.
