Lee Ki-hoon

Chinese inbound tourism to Korea should improve as China-Japan travel tensions divert flights and visitors from Japan to Korea. Seoul hotels are already near full occupancy with limited room supply, so hotels, casinos, duty-free, and leisure names should benefit.

After HYBE, YG Entertainment is the next name to watch. This year combines Big Bang's 20th anniversary and YG's 30th anniversary, and a Big Bang comeback has been signaled, likely as a three-member lineup. The market does not yet have estimates for the event because official dates are not set; once the schedule is announced, the numbers can be modeled and estimates can rise. YG still has strong global ticketing capability and a proven ability to create global top groups such as Big Bang and Blackpink, so the speaker views YG favorably once the comeback is confirmed.

HYBE is the top pick in Korean entertainment. The BTS world tour is unusually long at about 1.5 years, giving earnings visibility into next year's second quarter. Ticket demand is so strong that the current tour audience already exceeds 4 million versus the prior 3.5 million estimate, and operating profit that was expected at KRW 400-450bn has already been revised toward KRW 500bn. The company is also developing new mega IPs: CORTIS sold 1.75m albums in six months and may reach 2m before its comeback, while KATSEYE is one of the fastest-growing girl groups and reached Billboard Hot 100 No. 21 with a Grammy nomination. HYBE's track record of turning one of every two new teams into a superstar supports the current valuation. The speaker's target is KRW 450,000 under no further hit assumptions, with upside if upcoming releases surprise positively.