"Record Profits of 60 Trillion Won, Yet the Stock Price Plunged?" Furious Retail Investors Announce Launch of the 'People and Shareholders' Party

[Financial News] As the domestic stock market has continued to slump, the Korea Shareholder Movement Headquarters, a group of retail investors, has moved swiftly to prepare for the launch of a new party tentatively named the 'People and Shareholders' Party, which would politically represent shareholder rights. The group said it decided to create a direct political vehicle because civic activism alone was not enough to reflect shareholders' demands in policy.
On the 30th, the Korea Shareholder Movement Headquarters said it had officially begun recruiting founding members for the launch of the 'People and Shareholders' Party.
Recruitment will take place through the Naver Café 'Korea Shareholder Movement Headquarters,' and anyone can participate, including direct shareholders who own even a single share and indirect shareholders who invest in domestic companies through the National Pension Service (NPS).
The headquarters cited the recent sharp declines in the domestic stock market, companies' passive shareholder-return policies, and the erosion of market predictability caused by state-led financial intervention as the reasons for pursuing the party's creation.
The KOSPI fell to the 5,600 level after the circuit breaker mechanism was triggered for two straight days on the 28th and 29th, and it continued to decline on the 30th. The headquarters said, "SK hynix announced record quarterly operating profit of more than 60 trillion won, but failed to present any concrete shareholder-return plan, and its stock price instead plunged." It added, "We must change the distorted market structure in which record profits do not return to shareholders."
It also strongly criticized what it called anti-market policies that seek to recover corporate profits for the state and society, as well as state-led intervention that announces a corporate management roadmap spanning more than 15 years while stripping shareholders, the owners of the company, of their decision-making rights.

Along with its party launch declaration, the headquarters demanded strict accountability and personnel action against government officials, including the Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy and the Minister of Employment and Labor. It said they had undermined the principles of the capital market and damaged market trust by bringing corporate profit distribution into the framework of labor-management negotiations.
The group had already filed complaints with the CIO against Kim Young-hoon, Minister of Employment and Labor, on charges of abuse of authority. It has also filed complaints with the National Office of Investigation against executives including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun, President Roh Tae-moon, and SK hynix President Kwak Noh-jung on charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes.
The headquarters said, "We are launching this party in the name of 15 million direct shareholders and 50 million indirect shareholders." It added, "Our goal is not to bring down the government or any particular camp, but to create a party that will ensure the law and market principles are upheld."
Meanwhile, the party formation process will proceed after recruiting at least 200 founding members for the central party and at least 100 members for each city and provincial chapter. The group then plans to hold a founding convention and file a report to establish a preparatory committee. After that, it aims to create at least five city and provincial chapters, secure more than 1,000 members in each, and complete the final registration process for the central party.
[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter