Value-Up, a Turning Point for Transforming into a Market Recognized as K-Premium

Jung Eun-bo, Chairman of the Korea Exchange, stated on the 26th that the introduction of the 'Corporate Value-Up Program' could be an opportunity for the Korean stock market to transform into a market recognized for the Korea Premium.

Jung Eun-bo, Chairman of the Korea Exchange, is delivering a greeting at the '1st Seminar on Corporate Value-Up Support Measures for the Leap of the Korean Stock Market' held on the 26th at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

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At the '1st Seminar on Corporate Value-Up Support Measures for the Leap of the Korean Stock Market' held at the Korea Exchange in Yeouido on the same day, Chairman Jung said, "If the government's policy efforts and active participation of companies are combined, our stock market can surpass the all-time high of 3300 points recorded in 2021 and transform into a market recognized for the Korea Premium by domestic and foreign investors."

Chairman Jung promised, "The Korea Exchange will continuously promote this value-up support plan from a mid- to long-term perspective until it is recognized as the Korea Premium, rather than treating it as a one-time event."

Jung Eun-bo said, "The Korea Exchange has grown to a global level comparable to major exchanges worldwide, ranking 13th in market capitalization and 7th in the number of listed companies by global standards," but he diagnosed, "Despite this quantitative growth in market size, key stock market indicators such as price-to-book ratio (PBR) and price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of our capital market remain lower compared to major countries."

Chairman Jung viewed the reason for the poor stock price indicators as "because companies listed on our capital market are not being properly evaluated for their corporate value."

He emphasized, "Undervaluation of corporate value is a core issue of the Korea Discount and an urgent task that our capital market must solve."

To resolve the issue of undervaluation of corporate value, he said, "We will promote the development of the Korea Value-Up Index, launch related Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), provide comparative investment indicators, and open an integrated value-up homepage," adding, "Through this, companies with excellent corporate value or outstanding efforts to enhance corporate value will be recognized in the market and guided towards investment."

He noted that the Korea Discount cannot be resolved by policy authorities' efforts alone and urged, "Voluntary efforts by companies, such as securing transparency in corporate governance and shareholder-friendly management, must be supported."

Chairman Jung announced that guidelines will be provided so that companies can smoothly establish and implement value enhancement plans on their own. Additionally, he said a dedicated organization will be established to effectively support the Corporate Value-Up Program (draft) announced by the government that day. He stated, "The dedicated organization will continuously communicate with companies and investors and periodically supplement and improve support measures to better fit the realities of companies."

He also said that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which lack human and material resources, will be actively supported with one-on-one consulting, on-site guidance, and education to easily join the value-up movement.

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