Market Trends

Korea Hit Its Circuit Breakers 45 Times This Year

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Bar chart of KOSPI sidecar triggers by calendar year. 2008, the global financial crisis year, had 26. All of 2025 had 3. 2026 through August 5 has 45, split 23 sell-side and 22 buy-side. A side panel notes that 9 of the 15 KOSPI circuit breakers ever recorded since December 1998 happened in 2026, or 60 percent. Figures are from the Korea Exchange as cited in the Korean press.

Korea stopped program trading 45 times in 2026 – 23 on the way down, 22 on the way up – against 26 in all of 2008. Nine of the 15 KOSPI circuit breakers ever recorded fired this year. A guide to Korea’s three-layer brake system: the sidecar, the circuit breaker, and the 30 percent daily price limit that has no US equivalent.

Korea Defended Its Currency. It Did Not Defend Its Stock Market.

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Line chart of KOSPI daily closes from June 22 to July 31, 2026, falling from a record 9,114.55 to an intraday low of 5,262.77 before closing at 6,595.45, annotated with July policy events and a panel showing the government intervened in FX, regulated leverage products, and did nothing for the index.

On July 30, 2026 Korea and Japan were reported to have intervened in the currency market while US authorities ran a rate check — and a Korean official confirmed the three-way coordination on the record. The same week, regulators tripled deposit requirements on leveraged ETFs and opened an investigation into foreign high-frequency trading. And while the KOSPI fell 42% from its record high, nobody bought the index.

Korean Retail Investors Sold ₩8 Trillion on the Biggest Up Day in KOSPI History

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Diverging bar chart of KRX main-session flows on July 31, 2026: foreign investors net bought KRW 7.22 trillion while Korean retail investors net sold KRW 8.25 trillion.

On July 31, 2026 the KOSPI rose 17.91% — its largest one-day gain ever. In the same KRX session Korean retail investors net sold ₩8.25 trillion while foreigners net bought ₩7.22 trillion. What Korean investors were writing while they sold, why SK Hynix stopped at 29.95%, and why naming the cause of this rally is a trap.

Korea Is Putting $14 Billion Into AI. Its Sovereign Wealth Fund Has Never Been Allowed to Do This.

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Bar chart of KOSPI daily percentage moves July 27 to 31, 2026: +0.97%, -10.84%, -5.98%, -1.23%, then +17.91%, annotated with the week’s supply and capital events.

Korea will put ₩20 trillion (about $14 billion) into AI through a new Strategic Investment Account inside KIC — the first time its sovereign wealth fund has been allowed to invest at home. What actually changed, why the money is meant to attract rather than buy, and the five checkpoints that decide whether it works.