Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Investor-friendly policies, surging KOSPI drive higher dividend payouts
An electronic trading board at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI closing at 5,969.64 points, Tuesday, up 123.55 points, or 2.11 percent, from the previous session. The main index finished above 5,900 points for the first time in an accelerated rally, following a record closing high above 5,000 points, Jan. 27. Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
2025 payouts rise by more than $4 bil. among major listed firms
Investor-friendly return policies, along with a bullish stock market, are driving higher dividend payouts, which rose by more than 6 trillion won ($4.14 billion) last year among major listed companies, according to market observers and economists on Tuesday.
They said dividend payouts are expected to rise further in 2026, noting that the Lee Jae Myung administration is reinforcing policies to empower investors while the benchmark KOSPI is rising faster than in 2025.
“The pace of growth in shareholder returns could surpass 6 trillion won again this year,” said Jung Eui-jung, head of the Korean Stockholders’ Alliance, referring to data released by corporate tracker Leaders Index.
The data showed that 694 major companies out of 2,651 listed companies paid 47.99 trillion won in dividends in 2025, marking an increase of 15.3 percent or 6.37 trillion won from 2024.
Among the 694 companies, 371 increased their dividends, 106 kept their dividend amounts unchanged from the previous year and 65 began paying dividends after not doing so in 2024. The remaining 152 companies reduced their dividends.
“This corporate trend favoring investors is in line with President Lee Myung’s push to tackle the so-called ‘Korea discount,’” Jung said.
Lee identified inactive shareholder return policies as a key reason for the “Korea discount,” a chronic undervaluation of domestic stocks, before he took office in June 2025.
He noted that Korea’s average total shareholder payout ratio over the four years before his presidency was 38 percent, compared with 86 percent in the United States.
His administration, in turn, has urged companies to adopt high-dividend policies, either by maintaining a dividend payout ratio of 40 percent or more, or by having a dividend payout ratio of 25 percent or more with a year-on-year dividend increase of at least 10 percent.
Under these circumstances, seven of the 694 companies paid dividends of more than 1 trillion won in 2025, according to Leaders Index.
Samsung Electronics was the only KOSPI-listed firm to pay dividends exceeding 10 trillion won. It distributed 11.1079 trillion won to investors, up 13.2 percent from the previous year.
Kia paid 2.64 trillion won in dividends, with Hyundai Motor close behind at 2.61 trillion won. SK hynix paid 2.09 trillion won, KB Financial 1.58 trillion won, Shinhan Financial 1.24 trillion won and Hana Financial 1.11 trillion won.
Inha University economics professor Shin Il-soon underscored that the sharp rise in the KOSPI also enabled higher dividend payouts.
“Companies would not be able to pay higher dividends if stock prices were falling,” he said, referring to the main index’s surge of more than 75 percent in 2025, making it the world’s fastest-growing major index.
The KOSPI has continued to gain momentum this year, having already risen more than 30 percent and now eyeing the 6,000-point mark after closing above 5,000 points for the first time on Jan. 27.