People Power Party Stock Committee Holds First Meeting... Discusses Introduction of Interim Dividends Paid Like a Salary

Need for Alternatives to Mandatory Treasury Share Cancellation Proposed by the Ruling Party
Prompt Processing of Capital Market Act Amendment

The People Power Party’s Special Committee on Stock and Digital Asset Value Enhancement held an appointment ceremony and its first meeting on October 10, discussing measures to revitalize the capital market, including the introduction of interim dividends.

At the first meeting, the committee listened to a presentation by Hwang Hyunyoung, a research fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute, on “Improvement Tasks for Capital Market Revitalization” and shared related measures.

Specifically, following the announcement made last month by People Power Party leader Jang Donghyuk during his visit to the Korea Financial Investment Association regarding the separate taxation of dividend income, the committee decided to review the introduction of an interim dividend system that would allow dividends to be received regularly, like a salary, as an improvement measure to increase dividend payout ratios.

Yonhap News Agency

In addition, the committee decided to promptly process the amendment to the Capital Market Act. The amendment includes key provisions such as the mandatory public tender offer system and changes to the merger ratio calculation method to protect general shareholders during mergers, as well as consideration of shareholders’ legitimate interests.

The committee also plans to prepare measures to enhance shareholder value through improvements to the treasury stock system and to increase financial accessibility for the elderly. Taking into account the transition to a super-aged society, the committee explained that it will provide professional consulting services and strengthen the responsibilities of financial companies to protect elderly financial consumers.

Regarding the mandatory cancellation of treasury shares being promoted by the Democratic Party, some members suggested that, given concerns about potential side effects, it is necessary to seek alternatives such as incentivizing the cancellation of treasury shares.

Kim Sanghoon, chairman of the People Power Party’s Special Committee on Stock and Digital Asset Value Enhancement, emphasized, “We need to focus on fundamental institutional improvements rather than short-term, event-driven measures,” and added, “We will work to create a market where companies can grow and investors can trust, through regulatory easing, tax reform, and improvements to the investment environment.”

Meanwhile, at its next meeting, the committee plans to discuss institutional improvement measures to revitalize the digital asset market, including stablecoins.