Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang Mok on Dec. 9 chairs the Emergency Meeting on Macroeconomic and Financial Issues at the Korean Federation of Banks in Seoul's Jung-gu District. (Ministry of Economy and Finance)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang Mok on Dec. 9 said, "We're preparing market stability measures like a stock stabilization fund that can be taken at any time."

He said this at 7 a.m. that day while chairing the Emergency Meeting on Macroeconomic and Financial Issues at the Korean Federation of Banks in Seoul's Jung-gu District.

Attending the event were Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Rhee Chang Yong, Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Byoung Hwan and Financial Supervisory Service Chairman Lee Boykhyun. 

Having injected KRW 30 billion into the stock market as part of a value-up fund, the government will add KRW 70 billion this week and KRW 30 billion next week. A second fund worth KRW 300 billion will also come next week.

The bond market will see immediate emergency buybacks and simple purchases of government bonds by BOK. The foreign exchange and currency funds markets will supply sufficient amounts of foreign currency liquidity through measures such as foreign currency repurchase agreements when needed.

The government pledged maximum efforts to ensure that the nation's sovereign rating or other external assessments is not affected by the recent martial law incident. It will send a letter in the minister's name to global credit rating agencies, international financial bodies, foreign investors, finance ministers of key countries and investment banks worldwide as well as deploy ambassadors for international financial cooperation to organizations and leading states abroad.

dusrud21@korea.kr