Daily Brief South Korea: Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI 200, iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, SK Hynix and more

• Today’s reveal includes two main parts: first, setting up internal balance management for investors; second, building the detection system to block naked short-selling.
• FSC and FSS haven’t provided a set date for system completion but suggest it may start late this year or early next year. Uncertainty remains on overseas investor participation.
• A decision on short selling is due in June, but no confirmation was given today. However, the local market anticipates short selling resuming before this system is fully operational.

• With the rise in Coupang’s market cap, it’s imperative to evaluate if the Korea Index can attain eligibility to include foreign-listed companies.
• Coupang’s 45% YTD surge nears a $41B market cap, with a 65% free-float rate equating to $27B. Yet, to meet Korea Index eligibility, an additional $23B is needed.
• Aside from Coupang, more companies are preparing for overseas listings. Also, potential stock price increases for Coupang should be considered. The combined market cap approaches the US$50B threshold.

• SK hynix earnings were announced, with a 10% Q/Q revenue increase driving a 734% increase in operating profit
• Although the company cited AI demand as the basis for this, its DRAM revenues, which are very AI dependent, increase very little
• NAND SSD demand increased significantly, with a 30% increase in revenues, largely attributable to price increases

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• SK Hynix
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