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.
KOSPI closed down 0.48% at 6,838.04 after surrendering an early 1% gain, as foreign investors sold roughly $1.5 billion ahead of US PCE data and Micron earnings. KOSDAQ rose 0.72% on chip-equipment, battery and biotech strength.
Foreign investors net sold 2.90 trillion won (about $2.1B) of KOSPI shares as US yields topped 5.21%, dragging the index to a second straight loss at 6,870.81. The KOSDAQ rose 0.38% on retail buying, while construction and battery stocks sold off hard.
The overnight won rate Korean media quote every morning is not spot at all — it is the New York non-deliverable forward (NDF), a dollar-settled contract that fixes against Seoul’s daily market average rate. Here is how it is quoted, who trades it, and how to read the NDF-onshore gap as a signal.
The KOSPI dropped 2.70% to 6,889.74 in its first session after the Chuseok holiday as surging US Treasury yields triggered heavy foreign selling of chipmakers, while the KOSDAQ edged up 0.25% on an FDA-approval rally in HLB group stocks.
Korea withholds 22% on dividends paid to non-residents (often reduced to 10-15% by tax treaty), charges a securities transaction tax — 0.2% on KOSPI sales as of 2026 — on every sale, and exempts most foreign portfolio investors from capital-gains tax entirely. Here is how each rule is applied at source, how to claim the treaty rate before a record date, and how to reclaim over-withheld tax.
The KOSPI jumped 2.66% to 6,894.23 as SK hynix and Samsung Electronics led a semiconductor rally, one day after heavy hawkish-Fed foreign selling. Five stocks hit Korea’s 30% daily limit while oil refiners fell on easing crude prices.
Korean IPOs allocate at least half the retail tranche by equal allotment — falling back to a random draw only when subscribers outnumber the available shares — let new listings trade anywhere from 60% to 400% of the offer price during the debut session, and release locked-up shares on a published lockup calendar. Here is how each mechanism works and how to read the supply-and-demand signals around it.
The KOSPI snapped a four-session losing streak with a 1.37% jump to 6,717.97, while the won slid roughly 1.6% to around 1,368 per dollar as of the Seoul close — an unusual split, with the Fed’s September decision still hours away.
The KOSPI fell 0.85% as foreign and institutional investors sold over 2 trillion won amid $101 oil, 5% US yields and AI-pacing worries, while the KOSDAQ rose 0.70% on a cybersecurity stock surge. The won weakened to 1,359.68 per dollar ahead of the FOMC.