Parent shareholders get no shares in a muljeok bunhal (physical spin-off), so when the unit later IPOs the parent reprices as a holding company — historically at steep discounts to net asset value. How to read Korea’s two split structures, the double-counting problem, and the appraisal rights introduced in late 2022.
Rising US 10-year Treasury yields hit Korean stocks through three channels: a higher global discount rate that compresses Samsung and SK Hynix valuations, a wider US-Korea rate gap that lifts USD/KRW, and foreign selling on the KRX. Here is how each channel works, which thresholds matter, and how to read the daily foreign-flow print step by step.
FOMC decisions land at 3 AM KST (4 AM in US winter), and Seoul is among the first major cash markets to open on the result. Here is how to read Fed funds futures probabilities like a ‘66% priced in’ figure, what the dot plot actually commits the Fed to (nothing), and the three channels — USD/KRW, foreign flows, and the BOK rate gap — that carry the shock into the 9 AM Korean open.
The Bank of Korea Base Rate reaches Korean stocks through six channels: the won, foreign flows, valuations, bank margins, exporters, and retail leverage. As of August 2026, margin lending stood near 30.9 trillion won against 100.1 trillion won of investor deposits — here is how to read both around a rate decision.
KRX publishes daily net-buying figures for foreigners, institutions, and individuals on data.krx.co.kr and Naver Finance; the on-screen tables are typically labeled in millions of won, while Korean flow headlines quote units of 100 million won. The key skill: split “institutions” into pension, financial-investment, and trust money before drawing any conclusion, because each behaves differently.
Korea imports roughly 95% of its energy, so an oil spike widens the trade deficit, pressures the won (which closed at 1,423.98 per dollar on August 4, 2026), feeds inflation, and triggers foreign selling on the KOSPI. Here is the full transmission chain, the sectors hit in each direction, and the exact data releases to watch.
Tujaja yetakgeum — the cash retail investors keep parked at Korean brokerages — is the market’s most-watched measure of buying capacity. Here is what it measures, where KOFIA publishes it, and how to read it alongside margin loans without fooling yourself.