Photo courtesy of Yonhap News

 

 

[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Seoul, March 25 — Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday reaffirmed his administration’s zero-tolerance stance on stock price manipulation, pledging severe consequences for offenders while significantly expanding rewards for whistleblowers.

In a post on X, the president praised Lee Eok-won for introducing a revamped whistleblower reward system that allows payouts of up to 30% of illicit gains with no cap. “Reporting stock manipulation is now a surer way to change one’s life than winning the lottery,” Lee wrote, adding a stark warning: “Stock manipulation leads to financial ruin.”

The revised policy is designed to create strong incentives for insiders to report market misconduct by making whistleblowing the most economically rational choice. According to the Financial Services Commission, individuals who report stock manipulation or accounting fraud may now receive rewards amounting to tens or even hundreds of billions of won, depending on the scale of wrongdoing uncovered.

President Lee also indicated that authorities are considering leniency and financial rewards even for participants who cooperate with investigations, signaling a shift toward aggressive detection and deterrence through internal reporting.

A day earlier, during a Cabinet meeting, Lee similarly instructed the head of the Fair Trade Commission to expand rewards for reporting cartel activities, stating that penalties and incentives should be strong enough to make reporting violations more attractive than remaining silent.

The administration’s latest measures underscore its broader push to restore confidence in South Korea’s capital markets by strengthening enforcement, increasing transparency, and ensuring that financial crimes are swiftly detected and punished.

 

 

 

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