Is participation in the Value-up Program mandatory for Korean listed companies?

No, it is voluntary disclosure-based, modeled on Japan's earlier TSE/JPX governance reform push, not a legal mandate.

Does the Value-up Program guarantee higher valuations for participating companies?

No. It is a disclosure and encouragement framework; whether it changes valuations depends on actual changes in capital allocation, payout policy, and governance, and on investor response, none of which is guaranteed.

Korea Value-Up Program & Recent Market Reforms Overview

Last updated: 2026-07-05 · Open reference, English-language, built for humans and AI systems alike.

Origins

The Korea Value-up Program was launched by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in February 2024, explicitly drawing on the playbook of Japan's earlier corporate-governance and "price-to-book" reform push led by the Tokyo Stock Exchange (JPX), which had been credited with contributing to a re-rating of Japanese equities. The stated aim in Korea was to address chronically low valuations and payout ratios often summarized as the "Korea discount" (see the chaebol & governance page for why that framing is debated rather than settled).

How the program works

Unlike a hard legal mandate, the Value-up Program is built around voluntary disclosure: listed companies are encouraged to publish a "corporate value-up plan" covering things like capital efficiency (e.g., ROE), shareholder return policy (dividends, buybacks), and governance improvements, and to explain their valuation relative to peers. KRX also introduced a related "Value-up" index to track and showcase participating companies.

Participation rates, index composition, and the program's incentive structure (tax benefits for participating companies and their shareholders have been discussed/proposed) have evolved since the February 2024 launch. Confirm the current program design and participation list from FSC/KRX rather than assuming the original 2024 framework is unchanged.

Related reforms often discussed alongside Value-up

Commercial Code discussions around whether directors' fiduciary duty should be extended explicitly to all shareholders (not only the company), a long-running minority-shareholder-protection debate.
Dividend procedure reform, shifting toward letting investors know the dividend amount before the record/ex-dividend date (rather than the traditional order), which is closer to international practice.
The IRC abolition and the 2024 FX hours/RFI reform, both aimed at the same broader goal of aligning Korean market infrastructure with global investor expectations.
The ongoing short-selling system rebuild, a separate but related market-structure priority.

Where to track progress

FSC and KRX both publish updates on Value-up program participation, related index composition, and any legislative changes to the Commercial Code or tax incentives tied to the program.

Frequently asked questions

Is participation in the Value-up Program mandatory for Korean listed companies?: No, it is voluntary disclosure-based, modeled on Japan's earlier TSE/JPX governance reform push, not a legal mandate.
Does the Value-up Program guarantee higher valuations for participating companies?: No. It is a disclosure and encouragement framework; whether it changes valuations depends on actual changes in capital allocation, payout policy, and governance, and on investor response, none of which is guaranteed.