South Korea’s Wonpung Mulsan (008290), a KOSDAQ-listed company, is effectively set to become the first delisting due to market capitalization shortfall since the exchange’s strengthened listing maintenance requirements took effect. Despite executing a stock consolidation to prop up its share price, the stock has fallen even further below its pre-consolidation level, failing to meet both market cap and share price thresholds.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 7th, Wonpung Mulsan’s delisting determination will be made after trading concludes on the 8th. The company was designated as an administrative issue on July 3 after its market capitalization fell below 20 billion won (approximately $14.9 million) for 30 consecutive trading days. Its market cap at the close of trading on the 7th stood at just 6.1 billion won (approximately $4.5 million).
The decisive factor is that the company has not recovered a 20 billion won market cap for even a single day since its administrative designation. Under the revised rules implemented in July, a company designated as an administrative issue must maintain a market capitalization of at least 20 billion won for 45 consecutive trading days within 90 trading days of designation. Previously, delisting occurred only if a company failed to meet the threshold for 10 consecutive trading days or 30 cumulative trading days, but the requirements were significantly strengthened to expedite the delisting process.
According to data disclosed by the exchange on the 1st, Wonpung Mulsan has now been under administrative designation for 41 trading days, yet the number of consecutive days it has met the 20 billion won market cap threshold stands at zero. Given the remaining time within the 90-trading-day window, meeting the 45-consecutive-day requirement is physically impossible. Analysts note that even a sharp rally on the 8th would be insufficient to avoid delisting.
The company has also already triggered delisting grounds on the share price criterion. Under KOSDAQ Market rules, a stock is designated as an administrative issue if its closing price remains below 1,000 won (approximately $0.74) for 30 consecutive trading days. Wonpung Mulsan triggered this additional administrative designation in August.
The company had earlier decided in March to execute a stock consolidation to prevent delisting on share price grounds, merging its par value from 500 won (approximately $0.37) to 1,000 won per share. After the revised listing in May, the stock began trading at 846 won (approximately $0.63) per share, but on the 7th it plunged 128 won (29.98%) from the previous session to close at 299 won (approximately $0.22)—even lower than the 418 won (approximately $0.31) closing price immediately before the consolidation.
This case is significant as the first delisting to which the strengthened delisting criteria, implemented in July, will be applied. Previously, Koiz (121850) had its delisting confirmed for market cap shortfall and entered liquidation trading on the 3rd of this month, but Koiz was designated as an administrative issue in June and was therefore subject to the previous rules. Wonpung Mulsan is expected to become the first delisting case under the new criteria.
Market participants are watching for the possibility of additional delistings to follow. Shilla SG (025870), KM Pharmaceutical (225430), Gold & S (035290), and Suseong Webtoon (084180) have reportedly also failed to meet listing maintenance thresholds at any point since being designated as administrative issues for market cap shortfall. These companies are also highly likely to face sequential delisting proceedings.
The core of the strengthened listing maintenance requirements is that companies must meet the market cap threshold for 45 consecutive trading days after administrative designation. By eliminating the previous cumulative standard and significantly strengthening the continuity requirement, the new rules make it difficult to avoid delisting through temporary share price rebounds alone. As a result, market observers note that delisting risk has broadly increased for financially vulnerable KOSDAQ-listed companies.