Choo Kyung-ho

Choo Kyung-ho served as South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, implementing the "Corporate Value-up Program" in 2024. This initiative was designed to address the "Korea Discount" — the persistent phenomenon where Korean companies trade at significantly lower valuations than comparable companies in other markets, attributed to weak minority shareholder rights, complex conglomerate structures (chaebol), and poor dividend policies. The program encouraged Korean companies to disclose plans to improve capital efficiency, return cash to shareholders, and improve governance. It attracted significant attention from global institutional investors and activists like Oasis Management who had long argued for these changes. The initiative was partly inspired by Japan's similar corporate governance reform push under the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which had generated significant investor interest and equity market appreciation. Korean regulators aimed to replicate this effect by incentivizing listed companies to adopt more shareholder-friendly practices and reduce the holding company discounts endemic to the chaebol structure.