Lee Eok-won (이억원), chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said on March 18 at a meeting on capital market stability and normalisation held at Cheong Wa Dae that the KOSDAQ market will be split into two leagues, for mature innovative companies and growing scale-up companies, with movement between them allowed to boost market dynamism and competitiveness.

He stressed that KONEX, KOSDAQ and KOSPI would support corporate growth based on their distinct roles so innovative firms can continue to grow through the capital market.

Lee also expressed determination to respond to market stabilisation. He said market anxiety could increase due to geopolitical shocks originating in the Middle East and vowed an all-out response to stabilise markets with the highest level of vigilance. He added that he would review further expansion measures through a 100 trillion won plus-alpha market stabilisation programme.

On stock manipulation, Lee said he would track manipulators to the end and ensure they are punished. He said he would significantly increase staffing for a joint response team and strengthen the authority of special judicial police to conduct investigations based on their own detection.

He also said he would, in principle, ban duplicate listings to ensure shareholder rights are not harmed by simultaneous listings of a parent company and its subsidiary. He said he would encourage low-PBR companies to raise corporate value.