President Lee Reiterates Will to Strictly Crack Down on Stock Price Manipulation: "No Empty Promises"
by Lim Chulyoung
Published 05 Mar.2026 15:21(KST)
"The era of profiting by breaking the rules is over"
"This administration's goal is to make unjust gains impossible"
President Lee Jaemyung reiterated his commitment to strictly crack down on market-disrupting activities, stating, "The primary goal of this administration is to make it impossible to profit by relying on unjust systems and by acting against legitimate government policies."
On March 5, President Lee shared a report on X (formerly Twitter) detailing the results of a National Tax Service investigation, which found that 27 companies and about 200 individuals involved in disrupting the stock market had been subjected to tax audits, resulting in the collection of 257.6 billion won and criminal referrals to the prosecution. He linked the report and made these remarks.
President Lee further emphasized, "This time is different. The government, founded on the sovereignty of the people, does not make empty promises," adding, "The era in which people profit by breaking the rules, and suffer losses by abiding by them, is over."
The National Tax Service's investigation covered four KOSPI-listed companies and 20 KOSDAQ-listed companies. By category, tax collections amounted to 94.6 billion won from nine companies involved in stock price manipulation through false disclosures to lure investors, 41 billion won from eight so-called 'corporate raider' companies that damaged sound businesses through embezzlement, and 122 billion won from ten companies where controlling shareholders privatized listed companies to the detriment of minority shareholders.
In particular, the National Tax Service uncovered cases where companies inflated stock prices through false disclosures about new businesses and then siphoned off funds; manipulated market prices through collusive transactions after acquiring shares under borrowed names to reap short-term gains; and artificially lowered over-the-counter prices for the purpose of reducing gift taxes in succession planning for children. The National Tax Service announced it will continue to monitor sudden stock price fluctuations and abnormal trading patterns, and, in clear cases of unfair trading, expand the scope of its investigations to include CEOs and related parties.
In January, President Lee also shared an article about the expansion and reorganization of the stock price manipulation response team, stating, "The ruin of those who manipulate stock prices is not just an empty threat." Through this latest message, President Lee once again stressed his determination to address market disruption activities such as stock price manipulation, false disclosures, and insider trading, identifying these as structural causes of the 'Korea Discount' and pledging to create a fair market.
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