Korean stocks lose 11% in two days after the US midterms, then jump 4%

Korean stocks lose 11% in two days after the US midterms, then jump 4%

Korea's benchmark stock index, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), lost about 11% in two days after the US midterms, then jumped 4.39% on Tuesday, per Yonhap.

It fell 5.28% on Thursday, November 5, and 6.02% on Friday, closing at 5,059.69 after a 20-minute trading halt, per Yonhap. On Monday it dipped below 5,000 during the day, per Digital Daily, and closed at 5,018.85, per Yonhap. Tuesday's close was 5,239.13, after a buy-side sidecar paused program trading for five minutes.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix make up nearly half of the index, per Yonhap. Foreigners sold ₩6.16 trillion of Korean shares on Thursday and Friday, per Digital Daily. On Tuesday they bought a net ₩365.9 billion, and the won ended at 1,337.5 per dollar, per Yonhap.

What changed. Democrats won both houses of the US Congress in the midterms, and analysts said investors fear they will slow the building of AI data centers. On Thursday in New York, the Nasdaq fell 5.52% and the Philadelphia chip index fell 12.25%, per Digital Daily. On Friday trading stopped at 9:03 a.m. after the index fell more than 8%, per Kukmin Ilbo. It dipped to 4,911.28, about half its June 19 intraday record of 9,384.59, per Newsis. Tuesday's rebound followed a jump in US chip shares and a drop in oil prices.

Daishin Securities analyst Lee Kyung-min called the reaction "excessive." Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said the economy's fundamentals remain solid, per Sisa Journal.

Politicians are trading blame. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote on November 8 that the government pushed people into a "stock gamble" before the June local elections and asked President Lee to apologize, per TV Chosun. Lawmaker Han Dong-hoon said ₩182 trillion of pension money had "evaporated." The ruling party's spokesman said that is a paper drop in the value of National Pension Service stakes, not a realized loss, per kbc.

What this means for you. If you hold shares through a Korean broker, check your loan terms. The margin waiver covers only shares bought with broker loans, and brokers now set their own ratios, per Digital Daily. Seoulstart's brokerage account guide explains how foreign residents open and use an account.

What's next. From Monday, November 9 through January 31, 2027, brokers do not have to keep their 140% collateral ratio on margin loans, to limit forced selling. New loans still need 140%, and forced sales are not banned, per Digital Daily. Mirae Asset, KB and NH Investment cut their ratio to 130%, per The Fact. Authorities said they will act again if volatility grows, per Busan Ilbo.

Korea This Week

An appeals court upholds Yoon's election-law conviction, and his insurrection appeal gets a verdict date

The Seoul High Court on November 4 upheld former President Yoon Suk Yeol's 18-month suspended sentence for lying during his 2022 election campaign, per Yonhap.

What changed. The court found two statements false, including that he and his wife Kim Keon Hee had not met the shaman Jeon Seong-bae together. If the sentence becomes final, his election is voided and the People Power Party (PPP) must return ₩39.7 billion in reimbursed campaign costs. His lawyers will appeal to the Supreme Court.

What's next. The appeal of his insurrection conviction ended on November 5. The court set the verdict for January 26, 2027, at 2:30 p.m., per OhmyNews. Separately, the Supreme Court holds a second deliberation on former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo's insurrection appeal on November 19, a day before his detention period ends. He is likely to wait for the ruling outside jail, per Yonhap.

Korea plans to delay its crypto tax a fourth time, to 2029

Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said on November 5 that the government will seek to delay the tax on cryptocurrency gains from 2027 to 2029, per Yonhap.

What changed. The tax is 22%, including local tax, on yearly gains above ₩2.5 million. The government said crypto information sharing with the US starts in 2029, and taxing earlier could disadvantage Korea's crypto market. The National Assembly must approve the delay.

Four progressive opposition parties criticized the plan after Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok proposed it on November 4. The Justice Party said the strict fairness test applied to multicultural family policy goes soft for high-income crypto holders, per Jeonju MBC.

Multicultural marriages and births dipped in 2025, as Lee keeps defending his review of support for multicultural families

Korea recorded 21,399 marriages involving a foreign spouse or a naturalized citizen in 2025, 51 fewer than a year earlier, per Yonhap.

• All marriages rose 8.1%, so the multicultural share fell to 8.9%.
• Foreign wives came most often from Vietnam (25.3%), China (15.1%) and Thailand (9.2%).
• Multicultural births fell 0.5% to 13,347.

President Lee told the Cabinet on November 3 that benefits with no rational basis give people who stir up hatred a pretext, and asked ministries to recheck support criteria, per Media Today.

Passport numbers of President Lee and 167 others sat online for five months, and two financial bodies report hacks

Police opened a formal investigation on November 3 into a file of 168 people from the presidential plane's June Europe trip, per Yonhap.

What changed. The file held names, birth dates and passport numbers of Lee, first lady Kim Hea Kyung, ministers, staff, security officers and journalists. It was uploaded on June 2 to VirusTotal, a malware-scanning site whose paid members can download files, and stayed up about five months. The foreign ministry believes it leaked while trip documents were being handled, not through hacking, and is arranging new passports for those affected, per Yonhap.

The National Intelligence Service ordered emergency checks at about 2,100 public bodies by mid-November, per Yonhap.

Hackers also hit two financial bodies. On November 7, Mirae Asset Securities, Korea's largest brokerage by equity capital, said attacks on November 4 and 5 exposed the account numbers of about 3,800 customers and data on 35,255 current and former staff and contractors, including encrypted passwords for some, per Bizwatch. On November 10, the Financial Security Institute, the state body that oversees financial firms' security, said its assessment system was hacked and staff contact details leaked, per Hankyoreh.

Seoul subway unions plan a go-slow from November 20 and an open-ended strike from November 25

Union 1 of Seoul Metro, which runs Lines 1 to 8 and part of Line 9, said on November 10 it will start a general strike on November 25 unless its demands are met, per Yonhap.

What changed. Mediation ended on November 2 without a deal. In a strike vote, 86.3% of the 7,782 members who voted backed it, and two smaller unions also approved. The unions want the plan to cut 2,212 jobs scrapped, 1,313 more hires this year, and a pay rise. The union first sought 5.2% and now says it can accept the government guideline of 3.5%.

What this means for you. Unions 1 and 2 plan a work-to-rule go-slow from November 20, and trains are expected to run late, per Gyeonggi Ilbo. The Airport Railroad and GTX-A unions join that day, Korail's union from November 23.

What's next. The union leader said talks could resume at any time, but the strike starts on November 25 unless management and the Seoul city government change their positions.

Hiring this week

New roles at companies you know, picked from Seoulstart Jobs.

• Senior Communications Manager, Korea. Airbnb, Seoul. Posted November 9.
• Client Consulting Manager. Visa, Seoul. Posted November 7.
• Project Engineer, Robotics. ABB, Cheonan. Posted November 6.
• Technology Business Partner Specialist. Green Climate Fund, Incheon. Posted November 5.
• Systems Engineer, Calibration. BorgWarner, Eumseong. Posted November 4.

See all new jobs in Korea

Watch This Week

• Wednesday November 11, 11 a.m. International Memorial Day for U.N. Korean War Veterans, at the U.N. Memorial Cemetery in Busan, where 2,254 service members from 14 countries rest, per Yonhap. A siren sounds across Busan for a minute of silence. About 1,000 people are expected, including veterans and families from six countries, per Yonhap.
• Thursday November 12 to Sunday November 15. The Asia Professional Baseball Championship at Tokyo Dome. South Korea opens against Australia at noon Thursday and plays Japan on Friday, November 13, at 7 p.m. Teams are mostly players aged 24 or under, per Yonhap.

In Conversation

A post about a sports-day relay cancelled after one parent called it dangerous has reopened the argument over how far schools should bend to complaints (민원).

A video posted in late October showed a child telling a parent the relay was cancelled after a parent complained, though the runners had already been picked. The school is not named, and the complaint and the school's decision are unconfirmed, per Weekly Chosun. Emergency calls to 112 about school sports days rose from 70 in 2018 to 350 last year, and 287 of 6,189 elementary schools (4.6%) ban some ball games at lunch and breaks, per Weekly Chosun.

Korea Decoded

Giving a cash gift (축의금) at a Korean wedding

At a Korean wedding the gift is cash, and you hand it to the reception desk (접수대) when you arrive, not to the couple.

By common convention, ₩50,000 is typical for a colleague and ₩100,000 for a close friend. These are unwritten norms, not fixed rules. Do not wear white. Navy, charcoal and soft pastels are safe. See Seoulstart's guide to Korean wedding culture.

Activities

Festivals

• Through Sunday November 15. Maple Tree Forest Path Healing Festival (단풍나무숲길 힐링축제): the maple path at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, opens at night Friday to Sunday, with performances and a media-art light show on the Gyeore Tower (겨레의 탑). Free, per Korea Tourism Organization.
• Friday November 13 to Sunday November 15. Yeongju Apple Festival (영주 사과축제): the Seoul edition at Cheonggye Plaza (청계광장) in Jung-gu sells apples from Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, with an apple-variety display and activities such as keycap making and hanbok try-on. Entry is free, and some activities cost extra, per Korea Tourism Organization.
• Thursday November 19 to Saturday November 21. Pohang International Light Festival (포항국제불빛축제): fireworks by teams from Korea, Japan and France, a media facade and a night parade at Yeongildae Beach in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Free, per Korea Tourism Organization.
• Still on. Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, final week through November 15.

Events

• Wednesday November 11. Ronald Gray on Karl Gützlaff, the 19th-century German missionary and interpreter who visited Korea in 1832, at a Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch lecture, 7:20 to 8:50 p.m. FAST FIVE Tower in Jung-gu, near Exit 1 of Euljiro 1-ga Station. ₩10,000, ₩5,000 for students, free for members, per RAS Korea.
• Saturday November 14. A Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch walk through hillside neighborhoods beyond the Seoul city wall, about 4 km, 2 to 5 p.m. It starts at Exit 4 of Changsin Station (Line 6) and costs ₩30,000, or ₩25,000 for members. RSVP by November 12 and pay in advance, per RAS Korea.

Good Reads

• Hankyoreh21. “Foreign victims of jeonse (전세) deposit fraud are left out of the main relief measures.” A 40-year-old Chinese national of Korean descent in Ansan lost a ₩140 million deposit in 2023. The state housing agency's purchase scheme turned him away. Of 41,559 recognized victims, 556 (1.3%) are foreigners. (link)

• Kyunghyang Shinmun. “Five young people ask a court to halt POSCO's full relining of Gwangyang blast furnace No. 2.” POSCO said last year it would do a partial repair, then switched to a full relining about 18 months later. A full relining keeps the coal-based furnace running for more than a decade longer, and the contract grew from about ₩100 billion to ₩305.1 billion. Climate groups estimate 15 more years of use would add at least 137.02 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. (link)

• Dong-A Science. “The strongest El Niño on record is forecast, and Korea's November and December should be warmer and wetter.” August to October sea temperatures in the key Pacific zone ran 2.4°C above normal, the highest since 1950. The peak is expected in December. (link)

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New on Seoulstart this week

• Tailor my CV: free on each job page. It makes a one-page CV for that role that you can edit and download.
• Opportunities: language schools, scholarships, working holidays and job fairs, each with its own page and deadline.
• A new daily feed on the Seoulstart homepage with new jobs, companies hiring and headlines.

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That's Seoulstart Korea Weekly for this week. See you next week.

P.S. Job of the week: Moloco is hiring a Machine Learning Engineer Intern for a 3-month internship in Seoul. More roles like it are on Seoulstart Jobs.