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Lee Yeon-woo

Korea Times Finance Reporter

Lee Yeon-woo is a financial journalist at The Korea Times. Her wide range of reporting includes policies, macroeconomics, stock market, companies and even crypto. She is passionate about connecting the dots in Korean finance and making it easier for foreign nationals to understand. Based on her previous experience as a national reporter, she also has a keen interest in social issues within the sector, including gender equality and ESG. Your tips and insights are always appreciated. You can send them to yanu@koreatimes.co.kr.

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Economy

Korea still riding AI investment supercycle, but risks are building

Korea has been one of the clearest winners of the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom, as U.S. hyperscalers pour hundreds of billions of dollars into data centers and computing infrastructure, driving demand for memory chips made by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Chipmakers are benefiting from those investments even without having to prove that AI itself can generate adequate returns. For now, the cycle remains firmly in Korea's favor. But the foundations of that boom are becoming more fragile, according to global market participants gathered at the KB Jefferies Korea Conference at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul, Wednesday. Its durability increasingly depends on capital markets continuing to finance ever-greater AI spending, even as other capital-intensive sectors compete for funding and geopolitical shifts threaten to strengthen Chinese rivals. Those risks are beginning to feature more prominently in investors' calculations. "I don’t think I've ever seen a chart like that in a major market before," said Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, referring to

Sep 9, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
Korea still riding AI investment supercycle, but risks are building
Economy

KOSPI slips below 7,000 as external risks rattle investors

Korea's benchmark KOSPI reversed early gains to close lower Tuesday, as escalating geopolitical and trade tensions dampened investor sentiment. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 6,954.52, down 0.58 percent from the previous session. The index opened 0.72 percent higher and climbed above the 7,170 level in intraday trading, but plunged more than 120 points in the afternoon and gave up its earlier gains. Foreign and institutional investors net purchased 644.9 billion won ($478.8 million) and 649.6 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors dragged down the index by dumping a net 3.05 trillion won. SK hynix rose 0.56 percent to close at 1,793,000 won, while Samsung Electronics lost 0.19 percent to finish at 269,500 won. With U.S. markets closed, the KOSPI initially maintained its upward momentum from the previous session. However, sentiment weakened amid tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as reports of an attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities pushed crude oil prices higher. Escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada also weighed on sentiment. U.S. President Do

Sep 8, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
KOSPI slips below 7,000 as external risks rattle investors
Companies

Musinsa grapples with multiple hurdles in preliminary IPO review

Musinsa has begun the process of going public, setting up a test to see whether investors will accept a valuation of nearly 10 trillion won ($7.4 billion) amid slowing growth and a special tax audit, market watchers said Tuesday. Korea's largest fashion platform filed for a preliminary review of its initial public offering (IPO) on Monday, according to the Korea Exchange. Korea Investment & Securities and Citigroup Global Markets Korea are serving as lead underwriters, while KB Securities and JPMorgan are joint underwriters. "The purpose of this preliminary review is to assess the feasibility of a listing, which we are considering as one of our financing options to support our growth as a global company," Musinsa said in a statement. Founded in 2001, Musinsa operates its flagship online fashion platform, Musinsa Store, women's fashion platform 29CM and private-label brand Musinsa Standard. The company has been expanding beyond online retail by increasing its offline presence and pushing into overseas markets. Musinsa has internally valued itself at about 10 trillion won, roughly triple t

Sep 8, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
Musinsa grapples with multiple hurdles in preliminary IPO review
Economy

Foreign, institutional buying of chip stocks lifts KOSPI near 7,000

Foreign and institutional investors stepped up purchases of chip stocks Monday, helping lift the KOSPI near 7,000 as renewed optimism over artificial intelligence (AI)-driven memory demand fueled a semiconductor rally. The benchmark KOSPI closed at 6995.39, up 4.61 percent from the previous session. The index opened 3.34 percent higher and extended its gains. Foreign and institutional investors net purchased 2.59 trillion won ($1.93 billion) and 2.63 trillion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors net sold 6.82 trillion won. SK hynix rose 8.26 percent to close at 1,783,000 won, while Samsung Electronics gained 5.68 percent to finish at 270,000 won. OpenAI's new GPT-6 Astra model, which has drawn positive reviews for its performance, fueled expectations for increased token usage and further expansion of AI infrastructure. Nvidia's announcement that it would acquire Hugging Face also reinforced expectations for stronger memory demand. Brokerages are increasingly calling for a revaluation of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix after their shares fell about 38 percent from the

Sep 7, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
Foreign, institutional buying of chip stocks lifts KOSPI near 7,000
Economy

Hair-loss treatment stocks emerge as Korea's latest market theme

Hair-loss treatment stocks have emerged as the latest theme in Korea's equity market, drawing investors searching for the next big pharmaceutical trade after the boom in obesity drugs, market watchers said Monday. Shares of JW Shinyak and Samik Pharm jumped 55.7 percent and 62.89 percent over the past week, respectively, as enthusiasm spread across Korean companies seen as having exposure to the hair-loss market. Hyundai Pharmaceutical also gained 32 percent. JW Shinyak, a pharmaceutical affiliate of JW Group, sells prescription drugs through hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. Its hair-loss portfolio includes oral and topical treatments, and the company is expanding into hair care cosmetics. Hyundai Pharmaceutical is a longtime player in Korea's hair-loss drug market, with a 39-year presence. Samik Pharm is positioning itself as a next-generation player. In January, it secured a patent for a platform technology aimed at converting once-daily oral hair-loss drugs into long-acting injections administered once a month. The gains extended beyond drugmakers. Bioneer, which develops hair-loss c

Sep 7, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
Hair-loss treatment stocks emerge as Korea's latest market theme
Economy

Tighter delisting rules put $5.9 bil. of retail money at risk

More than 3 million retail investors hold penny stocks and low-market-cap shares that could be at risk of delisting as Korea tightens listing requirements, data showed Sunday. Their holdings were valued at nearly 8 trillion won ($5.9 billion). A total of 238 companies on the benchmark KOSPI and secondary Kosdaq either traded below 1,000 won a share or failed to meet minimum market capitalization requirements, according to the Korea Exchange. Of those, 61 were listed on the KOSPI and 177 on the Kosdaq, meaning the number of affected Kosdaq companies was nearly three times higher. These companies had a combined 3,126,710 retail shareholders, with their holdings valued at 7.85 trillion won, based on their latest annual reports, according to Rep. Park Min-kyu of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, who obtained and released the data. The tally may include duplication because one investor can own shares in multiple companies, Park said. Korean financial authorities earlier this year announced tougher delisting rules aimed at improving the quality of listed companies and restoring investor c

Sep 7, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
Tighter delisting rules put $5.9 bil. of retail money at risk
Economy

Korean firms delay converting dollars into won as local currency strengthens

Dollar deposits at Korea's five largest banks climbed to a record high as companies accumulated the U.S. currency, with the won trading at its strongest level in 23 months, data showed Sunday. Dollar deposits at KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup reached a record $76.98 billion as of Thursday, the highest since comparable data collection began in May 2021. The total rose by more than $6.9 billion in August and increased by a further $600 million in the first three days of September. Corporate deposits accounted for most of the increase. Companies held a record $63.3 billion in dollar deposits as of Thursday as exporters delayed converting dollar revenue into won while the exchange rate remained low, and importers bought the U.S. currency in stages ahead of future payments. Dollar deposits held by individuals also rose to $13.68 billion, the highest since February 2022. Individuals converted $389 million worth of won into dollars in August, the largest monthly amount since January, while conversions from dollars into won were only about a third as large. The won, which had r

Sep 6, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
Korean firms delay converting dollars into won as local currency strengthens
Economy

COVER STORY Japan's shareholder activism boom: Benchmark for Korea, or cautionary tale?

Korea and Japan have long shared a corporate governance problem: companies in which insiders, such as founding families, wield outsized influence often at the expense of minority shareholders. Both governments have sought to shift that balance by strengthening shareholder rights and pressing companies to improve governance and capital efficiency. Japan moved first, introducing a stewardship code in 2014 and a corporate governance code the following year. The Tokyo Stock Exchange's 2023 directive urging management to be "conscious of cost of capital and stock price" gave activists a clearer framework for engagement. That supportive policy environment has helped turn Japan into one of the biggest markets for shareholder activism. The accompanying focus on capital efficiency has also helped underpin the rise in Japanese equities. Japan accounted for 56 percent of Asia's 205 activist campaigns in 2025 and 32 percent of the 100 campaigns recorded in the first quarter of 2026, according to Diligent Market Intelligence. Activists won 37 board seats at Japan-based companies in 2025, up from seve

Sep 6, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
[COVER STORY] Japan's shareholder activism boom: Benchmark for Korea, or cautionary tale?
Economy

COVER STORY From Tiger to Align, shareholder activism takes root in Korea

When a U.S. fund began challenging SK Telecom in 1999, corporate Korea was only beginning to learn what shareholder activism looked like. The country had only recently emerged from the depths of the Asian financial crisis, and its capital markets were opening rapidly to foreign investors. Tiger Management built a 6.6 percent stake in the country's largest wireless carrier and pressed for changes, including stronger external oversight and a greater say in how the company was run. The Chey family, one of Korea's chaebol dynasties and the controlling family behind SK Group, spent about 2 trillion won defending its grip on the group. Within months, Tiger had reaped about 630 billion won ($463.6 million) from selling its stake. The idea that an outside investor could buy into a major Korean company and publicly demand change was still novel — and deeply unsettling to many companies. Tiger's windfall only deepened suspicions that foreign funds were enriching themselves at Korea's expense. That wariness persisted. Sovereign challenged SK Corp. in 2003. Carl Icahn took on KT&G in 2006. Elliott

Sep 6, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
[COVER STORY] From Tiger to Align, shareholder activism takes root in Korea
Economy

2 Korean officials named World Customs Organization-certified experts

Two Korean officials were selected as World Customs Organization (WCO) Accredited Experts, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Wednesday. The two officials are Kim Kye-yeong, an IT official, and Kim Kwan-woo, a customs official at Gimhae Airport Customs. They were accredited as technical and operational advisors in the fields of single window and data analytics, respectively, on Aug. 25. The number of KCS officials currently serving as WCO Accredited Experts has risen to nine. WCO Accredited Experts are customs officials from member countries who have been officially certified by the WCO for their professional expertise and practical capabilities. They join the WCO's pool of experts supporting capacity building in customs administration and participate in a range of training, technical assistance and advisory activities. To become a WCO Accredited Expert, candidates must first pass a document screening before participating in a workshop, where their expertise is assessed through presentations, discussions and other activities. Candidates who receive strong evaluations then take part in a

Sep 3, 2026By Lee Yeon-woo
2 Korean officials named World Customs Organization-certified experts
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