"Disclose Fund Management Information Transparently" "Investment Must Take a Long-Term View" (March 20, 2021)
(Given that strengthening of the National Pension's stewardship code is now being discussed,
and that the Pension Future Forum also held its 12th seminar on this very topic,
we are posting a 2021 interview article on the same subject to the Pension Future Forum's resource archive.)
A : Ryu Young-jae — Such discussions were active even under the Roh Moo-hyun, Lee Myung-bak, and Park Geun-hye administrations, but they were never realized. The likelihood is high that this will remain the case going forward. For one thing, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has no intention of letting go of the reins.
That said, would moving it under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, as some have discussed, actually reduce political influence? The Ministry of Economy and Finance may have more expertise, but the risk that it would more readily divert the National Pension's finances to policies suited to each government's preferences is even greater.
No matter which government takes office or how the National Assembly is composed, narrowing the differences between the ruling and opposition parties is difficult.
As a practical alternative, the National Pension also adopted the stewardship code in 2018.
The intent was to ensure that the National Pension no longer makes important decisions on the exercise of shareholder rights behind closed doors, as before, but instead makes them inside a transparent glass box, so that neither the government nor the political sphere can manipulate the National Pension at will.
For now, making even just the stewardship code function properly is the second-best option and the most realistic measure.
Yoon Seok-myung: Because the stewardship code is being misused as a tool of pension socialism, some have even argued for its abolition. But abolition goes too far.
In Korea's stock market, the National Pension sometimes plays the role of a white knight, and at other times performs the positive function of engaging in healthy checks by voicing critical opinions.
What matters is that the National Pension must disclose information transparently in every matter, so that the government and the political sphere cannot abuse the system itself.
Only then will this be consistent with the purpose for which the system was introduced.
From companies' standpoint too, if the National Pension operates more transparently, they would have less reason to worry about political entanglements as they do now, even when its scrutiny is pointed at them.
