National Pension Service sees losses mount as Korean stocks plunge

The National Pension Service (NPS) is grappling with a significant decline in its investment portfolio as the Korean stock market has taken a nosedive. This has led to mounting losses for the public pension fund, prompting the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to call for a parliamentary investigation into the fund's decision-making process.

NPS Chairman Kim Sung-joo has refuted any allegations of political influence, asserting that the fund's management committee operates through a democratic consensus. According to the latest figures, the NPS's total asset value dropped to 1,684.2 trillion won ($1.26 trillion) by the end of July, a decline of 181.4 trillion won from the previous month.

This loss, attributed largely to a reduction in cumulative gains on Korean stocks, translates to approximately 8.3 million won per pension subscriber, according to opposition lawmakers. The recent sharp slide of the KOSPI index, which fell from 9,000 in June to around 6,600 by the end of July, has been identified as a major contributing factor to the fund's financial woes.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.