NewTimeSpace — 22 Jan: Korea’s KOSPI surged as much as 2.2% to an all-time intraday high of 5,015.73, powered by heavyweights Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Hyundai Motor. The benchmark has now rocketed more than 90% over the past 12 months—the best performance of any national index globally. At 10:34 a.m. TR Korea (02848.HK) extended its rally, up nearly 3%; the ETF has gained 114% in the last year.

HKEX data showXtrackers MSCI Korea UCITS ETF(02848.HK) tracks the MSCI Korea 20/35 Custom Index—a UCITS-compliant capped benchmark that preserves broad large- and mid-cap exposure while enforcing single-issuer weight limits to curb concentration risk. SK hynix, Samsung Electronics, NAVER, Hyundai Motor and Shinhan Financial Group all feature among the top-ten holdings.

The KOSPI’s breach of 5,000 underlines Korea’s transition from a cyclical export market to a core beneficiary of the global AI boom, underpinned by its near-oligopoly in the memory chips critical to data-centre infrastructure. Sustained price strength in DRAM and NAND is flowing directly into higher earnings and share-price momentum for Samsung and SK hynix. Politically, the milestone offers President Lee Jae-myung a market mandate to deliver on governance reforms long demanded by investors—reforms that could finally erode the persistent “chaebol discount” that has capped Korean valuations.

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