Credit: Shinhan Bank.
New new heights, that is. This week, the total capitalization of South Korean stock markets climbed over USD 4.66t, surpassing the stock markets of the United Kingdom, Canada and Taiwan to become the sixth largest in the world. The KOSPI index, which was just over 2,800 when the Lee Jae-myung 이재명 administration began in June 2025, hit an intra-market high of over 8,000 on May 15.
Some fear of heights might be justified, though. The stock market’s climb has been heavily reliant on Samsung Electronics 삼성전자 and SK Hynix SK 하이닉스, chipmakers for AI data centers. Immediately after hitting 8,000, KOSPI tumbled down to 7,493 to close the trading day, reflecting the kind of extreme volatility that can be a first hint of a wobbly global economy - in this case, a jump in global bond returns.
Nevertheless, the unprecedented surge of the South Korean stock market is expected to continue. On May 13, KB Securities KB 증권 issued a report forecasting that the KOSPI index could rise to as high as 10,500 by the end of the year; on May 17, Nomura Securities issued a report predicting that share values for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix should nearly double.
The bull market is attracting investors from around the world. On May 12, Samsung Securities 삼성증권 formed a partnership with Interactive Brokers, a US brokerage firm, to allow global retail investors to buy South Korean stocks directly, which is likely to lead to another influx of capital into the Korean stock market.
