National Pension Service faces scrutiny over stock rebalancing delay

During a National Assembly audit of the National Pension Service (NPS), lawmakers clashed over the decision to delay asset rebalancing of domestic stocks earlier this year. Representative Lee Dal-hee of the People Power Party criticized the NPS for postponing the sale of domestic stocks in January and May, alleging the fund was being used as a political tool to support the stock market rather than maximizing returns for retirees.

Lee argued that by increasing the target weight of domestic stocks and widening the allowable range for strategic asset allocation, the NPS failed to realize profits when stock values were high, potentially causing losses for individual investors while allowing foreign investors to exit at higher prices.

NPS Chairman Kim Seong-ju defended the decisions, stating that the moves were made based on an optimistic outlook for the Korean stock market and that the decisions were reached unanimously by the Fund Management Committee, which includes various stakeholders. Kim noted that the committee's decisions were not driven by government orders.

The audit also saw intense debate between ruling and opposition parties regarding the disclosure of committee meeting minutes. The opposition has called for the release of these records to investigate the decision-making process, while the ruling party argued that disclosing sensitive investment strategies could destabilize the financial markets.