Bank of Korea Employees Make Bold Bets Instead of Issuing Warnings? Stock Trading Soars 53-Fold

Employees in key departments of the Bank of Korea, who are tasked with monitoring the potential for increased financial market volatility and sounding alarms, have sharply increased their stock trading volume in the first half of this year.

According to data submitted by the Bank of Korea to the office of lawmaker Kim Tae-nyeon of the Democratic Party of Korea, the net stock trading value of employees in the Financial Stability Department totaled 274.2 million won in the first half of this year.

Compared to 5.2 million won in the first half of last year, a year prior, this is a staggering 53-fold surge.

While the absolute amount itself was not exceptionally large, the growth rate was unusually high.

The number of stock transactions also more than tripled from 68 cases last year to 224 cases this year, suggesting that more aggressive investments were made as the transaction amount per trade increased.

Stock trading by employees in the Financial Markets Department, who closely handle domestic and international financial market trends, also increased noticeably.

Their trading volume in the first half of this year reached 219.5 million won, swelling nearly 24-fold compared to the same period last year.

On the other hand, employees in the Monetary Policy Department, which handles the base rate, drastically reduced their stock trading, and the trading volume of the Research Department, which is in charge of economic analysis, stood at a mere 5.9 million won.

The problem is that these stock trading records of employees have come to light at a time when the Financial Stability Department is facing criticism for failing to properly warn against the risks of single-stock leverage ETFs, which have recently become embroiled in high-risk controversies.

Previously, the Financial Stability Department stated in a report that "demand for high-risk, high-return products on blue-chip domestic stocks will be absorbed, leading to a broader base in the domestic stock market and strengthened price discovery functions," offering a positive outlook on the introduction of leverage ETFs.

In response, Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song appeared at the National Assembly audit yesterday and issued an official apology, saying, "Considering the circumstances at the time, it was inappropriate."

The Bank of Korea stated that it will review the reported stock trading details in accordance with relevant regulations and consider measures to strengthen internal controls.

(Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Sumin | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.