Seoul Answered the Foreign Press This Week. Here’s the Transcript.
On August 6 Korea’s deputy prime minister said the index was “stabilizing.” The KOSPI closed down 4.58% that day.
KOSPI
You Didn’t Buy ‘Korean Chips.’ You Bought Two Companies That Just Moved in Opposite Directions.
Samsung Electronics rose 0.22% on August 7 while SK Hynix fell 4.88% — the same index, the same industry, opposite signs.
60 Korean Earnings Reports. 58 of Them Land in the Next Seven Sessions.
Korean Q2 earnings season is seven trading days long. Of the 60 companies that disclosed an IR schedule to the Korea Exchange, 58 report between August 6 and August 14 – the semi-annual filing deadline, 45 days after the half-year end. Fourteen report on August 12 alone. Samsung and SK Hynix already went in July. KEPCO still has no date.
Korea Hit Its Circuit Breakers 45 Times This Year
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.
Donghak Ants vs. Seohak Ants: Korea’s Retail Army Has Two Names — and in July They Went Opposite Ways
Korean retail investors have two names. Donghak ants buy Korean stocks; seohak ants buy American ones.
SK Hynix Investor Hub: Earnings Date and ADR Math
The next SK Hynix earnings date is not yet announced (late October expected, not confirmed). One Seoul share equals ten Nasdaq ADRs, and the premium was about 19% on July 31 closes – a day Seoul closed at its 30% price limit, which flatters the number. Shareholder-return policy: still undecided. Updated each quarter.
KOSPI’s Wildest Week Ever Moved the Index 1.4%
In the last week of July 2026 the KOSPI printed a −10.84% session and its largest one-day gain on record (+17.91%) inside five trading days — travelling 36.9 percentage points to finish down 1.42%. And the month headlines called the worst ever ranks third on month-end closes, behind October 1997 and October 2008.
Korea Defended Its Currency. It Did Not Defend Its Stock Market.
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
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.
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.