February 26, 2026 – On Wednesday local time, South Korea’s stock market achieved a remarkable milestone as the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) soared above the 6,000 – point mark for the first time ever. This significant surge was mainly driven by the soaring global demand for memory chips, with the shares of South Korea’s two major chip giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, continuing to climb.
Market data revealed that the KOSPI rose by over 2% on that day, hitting a peak of 6,144.71 points during the session and setting a new all – time high. Since the start of 2026, this benchmark index has accumulated a gain of nearly 45%, making it the best – performing major stock market globally.
According to industry – aggregated data, the total market capitalization of South Korea’s stock market has now exceeded 3.76trillion,havinggrownbyapproximately2.23 trillion since the beginning of 2025.
With its continuous upward trend, the market value of South Korea’s stock market has achieved a series of overtaking. In late January, it surpassed the German stock market, entering the top ten globally for the first time in history. Currently, it has overtaken the French stock market, climbing to the ninth position worldwide.
Analysts pointed out that the South Korean stock market, which had long been overlooked by overseas funds due to its relatively low valuation, has now become the focus of the global capital market.
During this market rally, the so – called “AI panic trading” that had been widely discussed in the market did not have a negative impact. Instead, it turned out to be a positive factor. The South Korean market is dominated by hardware companies with a relatively low weight of software stocks, and hardware manufacturers have continuously served as the core driving force for the market’s upward movement.
In terms of individual stocks, chip giants have performed exceptionally well. Since the beginning of 2025, Samsung Electronics’ share price has nearly quadrupled, while SK Hynix’s share price has surged by about six times.
Despite these huge gains, most analysts remain optimistic. Institutions believe that with the ongoing global shortage of memory chips and the continuous explosion of AI computing power demand, Samsung and SK Hynix, the two major industry leaders, are expected to continue to benefit, providing support for the further upward movement of the South Korean stock market.
