Latest news with #PublicServiceEthicsAct
Korea Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Ruling party lawmaker accused of trading stocks under someone else's name
South Korea's ruling Democratic Party of Korea launched an internal probe Tuesday after a senior lawmaker was photographed appearing to trade stocks under someone else's name during a parliamentary session. This sparked speculations that the lawmaker might have failed to fulfill his duty to declare assets as a public official. Local media published an image showing Rep. Lee Choon-suak, chair of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, using his phone to access trading windows for Naver and LG CNS shares. The account name did not match his, prompting allegations of borrowed-name trading. Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the main opposition People Power Party said he would file a criminal complaint, accusing Lee of violating the Real-Name Financial Transactions Act and the Public Service Ethics Act. 'Borrowed-name stock trading is a serious crime that exploits retail investors,' Joo said, adding that omitting such assets from mandatory disclosures could call Lee's qualifications into question. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee is considered one of the most influential in South Korea's Assembly, serving as the final gatekeeper for bills heading to a plenary vote at regular sessions. The Democratic Party's ethics oversight panel will lead the internal inquiry.
Korea Herald
04-07-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Ex-Naver CEO to reap W4b from stock options before minister role
Han Sung-sook, South Korea's nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups and former Naver CEO, has decided to exercise 60,000 stock options that could earn her about 4 billion won ($2.93 million), industry sources said Thursday. Han recently filed documents with Naver to exercise the stock options she received, 20,000 in 2019, and 40,000 in 2020. These 60,000 options, at their exercise prices, are worth about 10 billion won and will convert to shares on July 10. Once confirmed as minister, she plans to sell the entire 60,000 shares, expected to be worth about 15.1 billion won based on current market prices, leaving around 4 billion won in net profit after taxes and costs. She also holds 8,934 Naver shares personally and intends to sell them as required by public official ethics rules. This will bring her total planned liquidation to 68,934 shares, valued at roughly 17.4 billion won. Under the Public Service Ethics Act, high-ranking officials must sell or place in a blind trust any stock holdings exceeding 30 million won within two months of taking office to avoid conflicts of interest. Han will not exercise 40,000 options granted in 2021, as their strike price of 384,500 won is far above Naver's current share price of 253,000 won. A long-time tech industry veteran, Han joined Naver's predecessor NHN in 2007 and went on to serve as director of the search quality center and head of the service division before becoming the CEO of Naver from 2017 to 2022. She was nominated by the Lee Jae Myung administration as its first SMEs and Startups minister in June. She reportedly resigned from her advisory post at Naver after the nomination.
