On June 3, 2025, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea was elected as the 21st President of South Korea. The AsiaN is publishing the hopes and expectations of Koreans for the new president and administration in both Korean and English editions. We welcome the interest, feedback, and constructive criticism of our readers.
The AsiaN Editorial Team
By Park Young-ok,
Stock Farmer, Author of “Invest Like a Farmer” and “The Absolute Principles of Stock Investing”
SEOUL: Warm congratulations to President Lee Jae-myung on his election. As the new administration takes on the historic mission of national unity and economic renewal, I sincerely hope it will restore the ladder of opportunity and breathe new life into Korea’s capital markets.
One of the most urgent tasks facing the Korean economy today is the restoration of a virtuous cycle of capital. No industrial policy can be sustainable without a structure where corporate performance is fairly shared with investors—through dividends and other means—and where returns are reinvested. Growth without distribution cannot earn trust, and capital does not stay in markets that lack credibility.
The starting point for this virtuous cycle is reforming the Commercial Act. The fiduciary duty of corporate directors in listed companies must no longer be defined vaguely as a duty to the “company as a whole,” but clearly as a duty to shareholders. In far too many Korean listed firms, management decisions are made with little regard for shareholder interests, and minority shareholders are effectively voiceless. Such a system cannot inspire trust among global investors.
As of May 2025, the average price-to-book ratio (PBR) of KOSPI stocks stands at 0.9, and for the KOSPI 200, just 0.8—only a quarter of the advanced economy average (3.5), and half the average for emerging markets (1.8). More than half of Korean companies continue to trade below their asset value, year after year. This structural distortion cannot be corrected without revisions to both commercial and tax law.
Restoring trust in the capital markets must go beyond Commercial Act amendments. A comprehensive legislative package is required—mandating treasury share cancellation, implementing electronic and cumulative voting systems, strengthening real shareholder rights, and introducing fair value-based standards for spin-offs. Reforming dividend and inheritance taxes is also essential to ensure capital flows smoothly.
Reducing Korea’s effective inheritance tax rate to around the OECD average of 25–26% would encourage earlier asset transfers, reduce informal capital movement, and could ultimately increase overall tax revenue. A system where companies take responsibility through dividends and households share in corporate growth as shareholders—this is the only path for democracy and economic development to move forward together in a capitalist society.
Today, Korea’s 15 million individual investors are not mere profit-seekers; they are core stakeholders in the nation’s economy. Without a trustworthy capital market for them, there can be no successful long-term investment, no effective pension reform, and no thriving startup ecosystem.
Now is the time to institutionalize your campaign promise of “One Family, One Listed Company”—a vision of shared growth between households and businesses. A market that rewards long-term investment, not short-term speculation. A market where transparency, not unfairness, is the foundation of listed companies. That is a market where true freedom meets responsibility.
President Lee, I hope you will make Korea a nation where doing business is easy, where investors can place their trust in the market—and where, as a result, all citizens can prosper together. May you be remembered as a true “President of the Economy” by the people of Korea.
