South Korea's finance minister said on Tuesday he agreed with financial authorities' decision to ban short-selling in the local stock market.

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho was speaking in response to a lawmaker's question during a parliamentary session.

The lawmaker was criticizing the ban and saying it would hinder South Korea from being included in a developed market index by global index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).

Choo said the government was working on several ways to improve the local stock market and win promotion to a developed market index. (Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Tom Hogue)