Daily Brief South Korea: Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI 200, DH Shipbuilding, CJ Corp and more

In today’s briefing:

Two New Tax Tweaks Set to Shake Up Korea’s Local Stock Market: Trading Tax & CGT Threshold
DH (Daehan) Shipbuilding IPO Book Building Results Analysis
Korea Surpasses France as Top Exporter of Cosmetics to the USA [CJ Olive Young – Key Beneficiary]

Two New Tax Tweaks Set to Shake Up Korea’s Local Stock Market: Trading Tax & CGT Threshold

Trading tax gradually dropped from 0.25% in 2020 to 0.15% in 2025, boosting volatility and short-term trades; a hike to 0.25% could cool momentum but widen arbitrage and basis spreads.
If the major shareholder tax threshold drops to ₩1B, year-end retail dumps and Jan buybacks will return—but with less wild swings and more measured short-term fade and momentum trades.
If the tax revamp drops end-July, expect a September Assembly push. Usually effective next January, but like 2023’s cap gains hike, changes might apply immediately in 2025.

DH Shipbuilding reported a solid IPO book building results analysis. The IPO price has been finalized at 50,000 won per share (high end of the IPO price range).
At the IPO price of 50,000 won, the expected market cap will be 1.9 trillion won. DH Shipbuilding will start trading on 1 August.
Our base case valuation of DH Shipbuilding is target price of 67,576 won per share, which represents a 35% upside to the IPO price.

Korea surpassed France as the top exporter of cosmetics to the USA in 2024. Korea exported $1.7 billion worth of cosmetics to the USA in 2024, up 54.2% YoY.
CJ Olive Young’s online cosmetic sales to overseas markets soared 70% YoY in 1H 2025, fueled largely by the explosive demand from the United States.
We have raised our NAV valuation of CJ Corp to 207,713 won per share (up 28%). We raised the valuation of CJ Olive Young to 7 trillion won.

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