As the KOSPI experienced a sharp correction, plunging over 30% this month, public pension funds, including the National Pension Service (NPS), were found to have instead net-purchased domestic stocks.

While the market had anticipated that the NPS might engage in large-scale profit-taking to adjust its domestic stock allocation, its actual operations are analyzed to have maintained a long-term investment stance.

According to the Korea Exchange, "pension funds and others" net-purchased 105 billion won worth of shares in the KOSPI market from the 1st to the 28th of this month.

In particular, they net-purchased 113.5 billion won on the 28th alone, when the KOSPI plummeted by more than 10%.

The category of "pension funds and others" includes stock transactions by public pensions including the NPS, mutual-aid associations, and national and local governments.

As the NPS is South Korea's largest institutional investor, its trading direction has a significant impact on the stock market. Consequently, the possibility had been raised that the NPS might resort to massive selling during the rebalancing process of adjusting its domestic stock proportion.

However, contrary to market forecasts, it actually maintained a net-buying stance for the entire month.

Some in the market interpreted that the NPS may have also considered the potential for even greater market shock if it engaged in massive selling at a time when stock market volatility has intensified due to the recent expansion of single-stock leverage ETFs.

Previously, criticism was raised mainly by opposition parties questioning whether the NPS's domestic stock management was mobilized to prop up stock prices.

During a work report on the 16th, President Lee Jae-myung mentioned that there were rumors suggesting the NPS purchased domestic stocks ahead of the local elections to boost stock prices, and directly inquired whether it had actually purchased domestic stocks prior to the election.

National Pension Service Chairman Kim Sung-joo explained that there were absolutely no additional purchases made with the election in mind, and that the increase in the proportion of domestic stocks was due to the rise in the evaluated value of held shares resulting from stock price increases.

Chairman Kim also recently stated on his social media, "Without being swayed day by day by market volatility, as a long-term investor managing the public's retirement assets, we will adhere to investment principles based on a long-term perspective and horizon."

Reported by Kim Min-jeong | Video by Lee Ui-seon | Design by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News