Busan: South Korea will strengthen its market monitoring capabilities to root out unfair stock transactions, the head of the country's bourse operator said Wednesday. While speaking to reporters in Busan, 320 kilometers south of Seoul, Korea Exchange (KRX) Chairman Jeong Eun-bo also unveiled plans to expand the KRX's market surveillance department.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Jeong stated, "We will eradicate unfair market practices carried out through back-door listings and kick out the so-called zombie companies targeted by market manipulators." He added that the KRX will establish a cooperative system with financial regulators, including the Financial Services Commission, to that end.

President Lee Jae Myung earlier called for stern measures against stock manipulation and unfair trading practices as part of efforts to boost the local financial market. The president had warned that those who mess around in the local stock market "could lose everything."