Overseas investors have sold a record $152 billion in Korean equities this year, accounting for 3.8% of the market's total capitalization. The index's forward price-to-earnings ratio has compressed to an all-time low of 4.2x as investors question whether AI infrastructure spending can generate sufficient returns and fear a potential DRAM oversupply by 2028. SK Hynix and Samsung have faced 15 and 5 consecutive days of foreign net selling, respectively.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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Foreign Investors Wipe $745B from Korean Stocks in Record Selloff
Global Markets18 hours ago
South Korea's KOSPI fell 4% on Monday, eliminating almost all gains from the prior session to bring the index's total decline to 22% since early October. This two-week rout has erased ₩1,118 trillion ($745 billion) in market capitalization, with semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropping 25% and 34% respectively over the same period. Trading on Thursday had previously been halted for 20 minutes after the index plummeted more than 8% in a single day.
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