Posted : 2021-01-28 14:12 Updated : 2021-01-28 17:54 Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, left, attends an online meeting with Andreas Bauer, assistant director of the Asia and Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund, at Government Complex Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of the Ministry of Economy and Finance By Lee Kyung-min The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended the resumption of short-selling in Korea, Thursday, escalating an ongoing debate over the much-politicized issue ahead of by-elections in April. Retail investors in Korea have been calling on the government to retain a ban on short-selling, imposed in March of 2020 to curb speculative trading amid a widening fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. They fear that share prices could plunge upon the resumption of the investment method used by institutional and foreign investors to profit after selling borrowed shares at low prices in a bear market.