Pension Future Forum Position on Recent Stock Market Developments (February 6, 2026)

(The Pension Future Forum hereby sets forth the following position on recent developments in the stock market.)

At the emergency session of the National Pension Fund Management Committee convened on January 26,

the "rebalancing" mechanism — which was designed to automatically trigger the sale of National Pension Fund holdings whenever the fund's actual allocation exceeded its target weight, thereby restoring the originally established target allocation — was suspended without even specifying a deadline for the suspension.

One of the factors widely attributed to the recent sharp decline in the KOSPI is the rebalancing carried out by foreign investors to adjust their portfolio weight in the Korean stock market.

The rebalancing rule — a standard obligation for any large-scale pension fund — was suspended through political intervention,

causing the National Pension, as a major institutional investor, to forfeit both the opportunity to realize gains and its role as a cooling mechanism during periods of stock market overheating.

No one can predict the future trajectory of the stock market. Nevertheless, judging solely by the outcomes observed to date, the results appear deeply troubling.

Over the seven trading days from January 29 through today, foreign investors have sold more than 14 trillion won in holdings, realizing substantial profits in the Korean market.

Individual investors purchased 13.6 trillion won worth of shares, appearing to have been reduced to mere instruments for foreign investors' profit-taking.

Domestic institutional investors, by contrast, were net sellers of 400 billion won.

Regarding these developments, the Pension Future Forum wishes to pose a public question.

Specifically: for what purpose, and in whose interest, was the rebalancing suspension decided?

Of particular note is the fact that the minutes of the Fund Management Committee meeting at which this decision was made have been sealed until 2030.

The Pension Future Forum hereby declares that it will monitor these developments with the utmost vigilance.