Party and Government to Strengthen Rewards for Reporting Stock Price Manipulation, Discuss Supplementary Budget to Support SMEs and Small Business Owners

Expansion of Whistleblower Rewards and Joint Response Team for Stock Price Manipulation
Promotion of Technology-Based Special Listings for AI and K-Content
Call for Supplementary Budget to Ease Burden on Small Business Owners

On March 19, the Democratic Party of Korea and the government agreed to strengthen whistleblower rewards for reporting stock price manipulation in order to improve the structure of the capital market. They also discussed the creation of a supplementary budget to ease the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners caused by soaring oil prices and other factors.

Members of the Democratic Party on the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, along with government officials including Lee Eokwon, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, held a party-government consultation at the National Assembly on this day to discuss "Assessing the Middle East Situation and Supporting the Recovery of People's Livelihoods."

Lee Okwon, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, is speaking at the Democratic Party Policy and Finance Committee - Financial Services Commission party-government consultation held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on March 19, 2026. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

After the meeting, Democratic Party Assemblyman Kim Namgeun told reporters, "To increase trust in the capital market, the party and government discussed strengthening whistleblower rewards for the detection of stock price manipulation, significantly expanding the joint response team, imposing fines for accounting fraud, and prohibiting those responsible for accounting fraud from being employed by listed companies." Assemblyman Kim added, "Regarding the ban on duplicate listings, it was decided to respond not only to split listings but also to increased mergers and acquisitions (M&A) intended to expand control. The introduction of measures such as banning the duplicate listing of subsidiaries and imposing a duty of loyalty to shareholders on the boards of parent companies was also discussed."

He continued, "It was also decided to expand the scope of technology-based special listings to IT fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and K-content. Additionally, an educational program will be created for those investing in financial products for the first time."

Regarding the supplementary budget, Assemblyman Kim said, "The Democratic Party requested the government to prepare a budget to support SMEs and small business owners, as their burden is increasing," and explained, "For small business owners, there is a growing possibility of rising interest rates, so we asked the Industrial Bank of Korea to respond to interest rate instability and related concerns."

Additionally, the party and government also discussed the Credit Information Act, the People's Finance Act, and the Capital Market Act, which are scheduled to be discussed at the Political Affairs Committee's legislative subcommittee on March 30.

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