[Editorial] Mobilizing 1,400 Trillion Won in Pension Funds for 'KOSDAQ 3,000' — Isn't This Crossing a Line? (2026.02.02.)

The government has issued guidance to 67 domestic pension funds, including the National Pension, to 'increase the share of KOSDAQ investment.'

Having achieved 'KOSPI 5,000,' the government and the ruling party have set 'KOSDAQ 3,000' as their next target — meaning they intend to mobilize pension funds with assets under management approaching 1,400 trillion won to reach it.

Following KOSPI, excessively pressuring investment even in KOSDAQ — whose volatility is far greater — crosses a line.

The Ministry of Planning and Budget announced, on the 29th of last month, the 'Basic Direction for Fund Asset Management in 2026,' whose core content is to increase the KOSDAQ investment of the 67 pension funds.

The KOSDAQ index will now be reflected in pension evaluation criteria that previously included only KOSPI, and the scoring weight for venture-investment performance will also be doubled from before. Until now, domestic pension funds have managed their surplus funds individually, but from this year they must operate according to the common standard established on this day.

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This announcement of the fund management direction should be understood as an intent to mobilize pension funds — estimated to manage roughly 1,400 trillion won as of last year — to prop up KOSDAQ share prices.

Earlier, on the 27th, the National Pension Fund Management Committee raised the year-end target weight for domestic equities from 14.4% by 0.5 percentage point to 14.9%.

The upward adjustment in investment weight will enable at least 7 trillion won in additional investment in the domestic stock market.

Pension funds forcing an excessive increase in domestic equity investment, particularly in KOSDAQ, is something to be wary of.

KOSDAQ crossed the '1,000 mark' for the first time in more than four years (KOSDAQ 1,000), and its closing price on the 30th approached 1,150.

But that foundation is not yet solid. It is so opaque that more than 60% of KOSDAQ-listed companies trade without a single securities-firm research report, and not many KOSDAQ companies have actually achieved their projected earnings.

President Lee Jae-myung himself wrote on social media, “If a department store is full of rotten goods with no value and fake goods, who would go there?” Solving this problem first is the proper order of priorities.

https://n.news.naver.com/article/469/0000912188?sid=110