펜 끝으로 빚은 시장의 비극: 기자 선행매매와 자본시장의 민낯 > 뉴스

The core of this incident lies in sophisticated price manipulation that exploited information asymmetry. When the broker drafted a favorable article and delivered it to the reporter, the reporter sent it at the agreed upon timing, thereby attracting buying power from individual investors. In particular, one reporter who was arrested showed meticulousness in repeated high-frequency trading, targeting the moment when the article was exposed on the portal, and monopolized hundreds of millions of won in market profits through this method. This is a clear violation of the Capital Markets Act, forgetting the media's duty of writing correct opinions and paralyzing the market's ability to form fair prices through information. Individual investors who should receive sound investment information have been reduced to mere ‘prey’ for their fraud.

President Lee Jae-myung defined this incident as an ‘abnormality of the old era’ and emphasized that correcting it is an essential task of the times for the Republic of Korea to live well together. The President directly mentioned the incident through social media and urged those involved in the crime to return to being journalists who provide honest opinion, while also strongly recommending that they surrender, offering reduced punishment and payment of rewards for reporting public interest. This goes beyond a simple rhetorical warning of severe punishment, and is a strong expression of the will to ensure that unfair trade practices no longer have a place in our society. This is a result that reflects the reality that any economic leap forward is nothing more than an illusion without securing transparency in the capital market.

Meanwhile, market chaos is not limited to criminal activity. The recent unallocated volume that occurred during SpaceX's listing caused great disappointment to domestic asset managers and investors. As underwriters such as Mirae Asset Securities were unable to secure volumes from representative underwriters, the management strategy of related ETF products that attempted to use these as underlying assets was also disrupted. In addition, in a situation where market volatility has increased extremely, individual investors are repeatedly engaging in ‘frog trading’, buying in declining markets and selling in rising markets, showing extreme panic. Market anxiety is reaching its peak, with the KOSPI Volatility Index (VKOSPI) hitting its highest since the financial crisis, and this environment demands more cool-headed judgment from investors.

Experts point out that the win rate of stock selection in the stock market is not much different from that of experts, ordinary people, or even cows that select randomly. Attempts to find stocks that guarantee a clear future by being lured by flashy returns often end in failure, and even stocks that were believed to be blue chip stocks, such as Guizhou Maotai or Adobe, can be cut in half in an instant due to policy changes or rapid changes in the technological environment. In the end, investing is a battle of trading timing and risk management rather than stock selection, and being swayed by fabricated articles or short-term good news is a shortcut to inevitably increasing losses. The higher the volatility of the market, the more important it is for investors to develop an eye to discern the truth of information, and it is more important than anything else to stay centered and not be swayed by groundless greed and fear.