South Korea's Stock Market Overtakes UK, Rises to 8th Largest Globally, Trailing Taiwan

SEOUL (Central News Agency) — Bloomberg News reported today that South Korea's stock market has surpassed the UK's to become the world's eighth-largest, closely trailing Taiwan, driven by strong gains in artificial intelligence (AI)-related technology stocks.

According to data compiled by Bloomberg, the total market capitalization of South Korean listed companies has surged by over 45% this year, reaching $4.04 trillion; the UK stock market has only risen by about 3% to $3.99 trillion. As recently as the end of 2024, the UK market was still approximately twice the size of South Korea's.

The surge in South Korean stocks highlights a global trend towards AI-related companies, with AI driving up the share prices of South Korea's two largest listed companies, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

These two memory chip giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, currently account for over 40% of the total market capitalization of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), which comprises more than 800 constituent stocks.

The rise in South Korean stocks mirrors that of Taiwan's stock market, which, driven by TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, surpassed the UK market in mid-April to become the world's seventh-largest stock market.

TSMC currently accounts for about 45% of Taiwan's benchmark index, and Taiwan's stock market capitalization currently stands at $4.48 trillion, approaching that of Canada's.

The UK's FTSE 100 index has risen by about 4% this year, performing similarly to the MSCI World Index, but lagging far behind the outsized gains of markets benefiting from the AI boom. Although the UK market is Europe's largest, its constituent stocks are still dominated by traditional industries such as finance, consumer staples, and energy and mining.

Patrick Kellenberger, an emerging markets equity strategist at Lombard Odier in Switzerland, stated that the growth trajectories of the South Korean and Taiwanese stock markets are significantly higher than Europe's due to the potential of AI development, global defense spending, and corporate governance reforms.

He pointed out that Europe still faces challenges in commercializing innovation and scaling up, making it crucial to create an environment for innovative business growth, but this also takes time. (Compiled by Chen Cheng-chien) 1150428

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