Yoonje Cho, KFTC Member, Ultimately Disposes Entire KOSDAQ Stock Holdings (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunbyeol] Jo Yoon-je, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Korea who had been excluded from MPC decisions due to stock ownership, has finally sold all of his KOSDAQ stocks.

The Bank of Korea announced on the 15th, "The MPC has confirmed that Commissioner Jo has sold all of his stocks." Accordingly, Commissioner Jo will be able to participate in the MPC meeting scheduled for the 16th, where the base interest rate will be decided.

Commissioner Jo, who took office in April, attended the MPC plenary session on May 28 but voluntarily requested recusal (exclusion from duty execution due to a special relationship with the matter) regarding his stock holdings, which the MPC accepted. This was the first time an MPC member missed a meeting due to recusal.

Jo, a former ambassador to the United States, held stocks in eight companies before taking office. Around the time of his appointment in April, he disposed of five stocks including financial stocks such as BNK Financial Group and automobile stocks such as Kia Motors. However, he did not sell three KOSDAQ stocks: SGA, an information security solution company; Sollid, a wireless communication equipment company; and Seongwang, a water cargo company. Instead, he requested a job relevance review from the Ministry of Personnel Management. As Jo is a non-financial SME owner, he apparently judged there was no job relevance and chose not to sell these stocks.

However, on the 23rd of last month, the Stock Blind Trust Review Committee of the Ministry of Personnel Management concluded that Jo's remaining stocks were related to his duties and notified him accordingly. According to the Public Officials Ethics Act, once notified of job relevance, the official must sell the stocks or enter into a blind trust agreement within one month.

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