South Korea’s booming stock market mints a generation of novice investors
Summary
South Korea’s stock market has grown quickly, attracting many new investors like office worker Kim Ha-young who started buying shares with little experience. The main stock index, Kospi, has nearly doubled recently, making it one of the best-performing markets worldwide and leading to a large increase in the number of people owning stocks.Key Facts
- The number of South Koreans owning stocks rose from about 6 million in 2019 to over 14.5 million by the end of 2025.
- South Korea’s main stock index, the Kospi, has nearly doubled in value recently.
- Active trading accounts in South Korea reached over 105 million by May 2026.
- Many new investors buy shares in well-known companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
- South Korea’s stock market was previously known for low company valuations called the “Korea discount.”
- Weak corporate governance and family-run business groups (chaebols) had caused poor market performance.
- President Lee Jae-myung has introduced reforms to improve the stock market and increase investor returns.
- The Kospi index passed President Lee’s goal of 5,000 points and continued increasing.
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