Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said on Tuesday that a sharp rise in young individual investors in the stock market may increase volatility amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The vice minister presented the assessment during a meeting with senior officials from financial regulators and the Bank of Korea in Seoul. 

Kim said that after the outbreak of the coronavirus, the market is witnessing a massive new influx of investment from young individual investors, with abundant liquidity and online transactions. 

The vice minister said that these young investors are quick in making decisions and prefer short term investments, providing liquidity and vitality for the market, but they could also increase volatility. 

Kim said the government and related agencies will pay attention to these investors and the effects they have on the stock market, adding it will take swift measures to stabilize the markets if volatility grows. 

Kim made the remarks a day after South Korea's main stock index plummeted four-point-eight percent amid fears of a possible new wave of coronavirus infections.