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Overseas Index Funds Lead South Korea’s ETF Boom in 2025

Overseas Index Funds Lead South Korea’s ETF Boom in 2025

SEOUL,  Jan. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean investors poured record sums into exchange-traded funds last year, with both retail and foreign investors gravitating toward overseas equity benchmarks and high-growth thematic products, underscoring a broad shift in the country’s investment landscape. According to data released Sunday by financial information provider Yonhap Infomax, individual investors’ most heavily [...]

Stock Rally Swells Wealth of Corporate Titans, Adding Over $26 Billion in a Year

Stock Rally Swells Wealth of Corporate Titans, Adding Over $26 Billion in a Year

SEOUL,  Jan. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s richest business leaders saw a sharp surge in their stock wealth over the past year, lifted by a strong rally in domestic equities, with gains exceeding 35 trillion won ($26 billion) among the heads of the country’s largest conglomerates, according to a new analysis released Monday. A report [...]

Foreign Ownership of Korean Equities Hits Near Six-Year High

Foreign Ownership of Korean Equities Hits Near Six-Year High

SEOUL,  Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign investors’ presence in South Korea’s stock market climbed to its highest level in nearly six years in December, buoyed by a sharp rally in equities and growing optimism about the country’s semiconductor industry. Foreign ownership reached 32.9 percent of total market capitalization, the highest since April 2020, after overseas [...]

KOSPI Breaks 4,300 for First Time on Semiconductor Surge

KOSPI Breaks 4,300 for First Time on Semiconductor Surge

SEOUL,  Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean stocks climbed to a record close Friday, propelled by heavy buying in large semiconductor names as investors doubled down on bets that artificial intelligence–driven growth will continue to bolster the country’s export engine. The won weakened against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped [...]

Korea Exchange Targets 24-Hour Trading in Push to Upgrade Capital Markets

Korea Exchange Targets 24-Hour Trading in Push to Upgrade Capital Markets

SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The head of South Korea’s main bourse operator vowed Friday efforts to upgrade the country’s capital market by extending trading hours and strengthening crackdowns on unfair trading practices. Jeong Eun-bo, the chairman of the Korea Exchange (KRX), made the remarks at an event celebrating the first trading day of [...]

Korea Mandates More English Filings, Moves Ahead With Pro-Labor Reforms

Korea Mandates More English Filings, Moves Ahead With Pro-Labor Reforms

SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) —  A broader swath of South Korean companies will soon be required to file regulatory disclosures in English, a move aimed at opening the country’s capital markets further to foreign investors, even as a newly enacted pro-labor law is set to raise compliance risks for businesses. Beginning May 1, the Financial [...]

Korean Investors Post First Net Sale of U.S. Equities in Four Months

Korean Investors Post First Net Sale of U.S. Equities in Four Months

SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean investors switched to net sellers of U.S. stocks for the first time in around four months last week, data showed Tuesday, amid government measures to reshore capital into the local stock market. Local investors sold a net US$281.4 million of equities in the United States between Dec. [...]

Digital Payments Rise, Yet Emergency Cash Holdings Climb

Digital Payments Rise, Yet Emergency Cash Holdings Climb

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are using less cash in their daily lives than ever before, but are holding on to more of it as a financial buffer, according to a new survey released by the Bank of Korea on Sunday. The central bank’s 2025 comprehensive survey on currency usage found that individuals [...]

Holiday Stock Gifts Reflect Optimism in Semiconductors and AI Plays

Holiday Stock Gifts Reflect Optimism in Semiconductors and AI Plays

SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean investors turned to familiar blue chips and high-flying U.S. technology stocks when gifting shares this year, with Samsung Electronics emerging as the most popular choice, according to data released by KB Securities. An analysis of KB Securities’ stock-gifting service, covering transactions through Dec. 22, showed that shares of [...]

Seoul Moves to Strengthen Consumer Safeguards Across Financial Products

Seoul Moves to Strengthen Consumer Safeguards Across Financial Products

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial watchdog on Monday unveiled an ambitious roadmap to overhaul consumer protection, signaling a shift away from after-the-fact remedies toward preemptive intervention across the life cycle of financial products. The Financial Supervisory Service said it aims to make 2025 a “foundational year” for substantive consumer protection by embedding [...]