'Value-Up' Commercial Act Amendment Forum to Be Held... "Proportional Benefits for All Shareholders"

To resolve the Korea Discount, there is a growing recognition that strengthening the rights of minority shareholders is necessary so that the profits of listed companies are proportionally distributed to all shareholders. Additionally, there is an increasing call for urgent amendments to the Commercial Act to support this.

Members of the Democratic Party belonging to the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee will hold a forum at the National Assembly to discuss amendments to the Commercial Act aimed at strengthening directors' fiduciary duties, officially beginning discussions on the proposed amendments.

On the 12th, eight Democratic Party lawmakers?Park Sang-hyuk, Kang Jun-hyun, Kang Hoon-sik, Kim Nam-geun, Lee Jeong-moon, Yoo Dong-soo, Min Byung-duk (all from the Political Affairs Committee), and Oh Ki-hyung (from the Strategy and Finance Committee)?announced that they will hold a forum titled "Proportional Shareholder Benefits and Value-Up" at 10 a.m. on the 23rd in Seminar Room 1 of the National Assembly Members' Office Building. This is the first forum on Commercial Act amendments held in the 22nd National Assembly.

In the first session, Professor Kim Woo-jin from Seoul National University’s College of Business Administration will be the first presenter, delivering a presentation titled "Analysis of the Causes of the Korea Discount: Listed Companies' ROE and Cost of Capital." Following this, Professor Lee Sang-hoon from Kyungpook National University Law School will present on the topic "Value-Up and Directors' Fiduciary Duties."

The panel discussion in the second session will include Professor Son Chang-wan from Yonsei University, Dr. Hwang Hyun-young from the Capital Market Research Institute, Park Yoo-kyung, Head of APG/EM Equity Division at the Netherlands Pension Asset Management, Kang Seok-gu, Head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lawyer Kim Sun-woong from the Economic Reform Solidarity, and Choi Chi-yeon, Manager of the Fair Market Division at the Financial Services Commission. Participants from academia, economic organizations, Europe’s largest pension fund managers, and financial authorities will engage in in-depth discussions on the necessity and direction of the Commercial Act amendments.

The forum will be chaired by Lee Yong-woo, head of the Economic Plus Research Institute, who previously proposed amendments to the Commercial Act in the 21st National Assembly. Park Sang-hyuk, who hosted the forum, stated, “This forum will be an opportunity to gather wisdom for overcoming the chronic issue of the Korea Discount in Korea’s stock market and advancing toward a mature stock market.” He added, “The Democratic Party will continue to take the lead in achieving ‘real value-up,’ a virtuous cycle structure where corporate profits are fairly distributed to shareholders and corporate value is simultaneously enhanced.”