In July 1986, The South Korean government passed the "Market Organization for Vitalization of Publicly Traded Assets for Small Businesses Act" in order to provide a way for small and intermediate businesses to raise capital through
publicly traded shares, and to provide investors with new routes of investments. In April 1987, the Market Organization was achieved, and the first three companies were registered. On May 17, 1996, the KOSDAQ Securities Exchange (코스닥증권시장) was established in order to vitalize, modernize and fully computerize the market. KOSDAQ went into fully service on July 1, 1996. During the
1997 Asian financial crisis, KOSDAQ market indexes plummeted and investors suffered heavy losses, but due to the quick recovery of the South Korean Economy, KOSDAQ saw rapid recovery and increase in market capitalization through the early 21st century. ==See also==