Ideas
Lee Chang-hoon
Former Director of Asset Management, Government Employees Pension Service
1:32
Korean equities re-rate on fundamentals.
The Korean market is not at an early stage and not a simple liquidity bubble; it is undergoing a structural re-rating driven by governance reform, valuation normalization versus developed and emerging peers, and improving corporate fundamentals, especially semiconductor earnings. He expects short-term corrections because of overheated price action but argues the market is not a dot-com-style bubble and should remain supported if fundamentals persist, with KOSPI potentially around the Nikkei-40,000 equivalent of 6,000 and investors advised not to time entries.
Lee Chang-hoon
Former Director of Asset Management, Government Employees Pension Service
8:37
KOSDAQ faces short-term correction and volatility.
KOSDAQ has risen roughly 30 percent in a very short period, with much of the flow coming through retail investors using ETFs, ETNs, and leverage. Because many investors have large short-term gains, profit-taking is likely, so a short-term correction and high volatility are probable; this is a timing and volatility warning rather than a long-term bearish call.
Hold equities long term via index ETFs.
Investors should begin with asset allocation, always hold equities because stocks outperform over the long run and the market system remains intact, and use index ETFs as the core starting point before moving to sector ETFs and then individual stocks. He names S&P 500, Nasdaq, KOSPI 200, and KOSDAQ 150 as examples of starting index ETFs and warns against trying to time the market.
Own Samsung and SK hynix leaders.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are the representative Korean market leaders and should be held even if investors buy only a small initial position and accept possible drawdowns. Their earnings are rising with DRAM prices, their valuations still look inexpensive relative to global peers such as Micron and TSMC, and a potential MSCI developed-market inclusion or SK hynix ADR could help narrow the discount; analyst targets of 1.5 million won for SK hynix and 250,000 won for Samsung are plausible, though short-term overheating risks corrections.
AI makes semiconductors an indispensable megatrend.
AI is a multi-year megatrend that has already been running for about three years, and regardless of whether the winning architecture or vendor is a GPU, TPU, MPU, Nvidia, or Broadcom, semiconductors are essential. Memory semiconductors are particularly central, and the still-rising semiconductor price cycle supports the sector.
MSCI inclusion could force Korean inflows.
Korea should and likely will be included in the MSCI developed-market index; only FTSE and S&P currently classify Korea as developed, while global institutional benchmarks rely on MSCI. Inclusion would force global pension, sovereign, and benchmark funds to buy Korean equities, creating significant structural demand and helping sustain the market; FX liberalization and index-access improvements make MSCI observation and eventual inclusion likely within a few years.
Won may stabilize on market reforms.
If Korea extends FX trading hours toward 24-hour operations and enters the MSCI developed-market index, the Korean won should become more stable. Opening the FX market and deepening foreign participation would reduce the flawed idea that authorities can control the currency and support flows; this is a stability and regime view rather than a strong appreciation call.
Pension domestic allocation can rise sharply.
The National Pension Service and domestic pension funds should increase Korean equity allocations. NPS has grown too large to act only as a purely financial investor and must consider macro and national effects as a universal owner; Japan's pension reform raised domestic equity allocation to about 25%, while Korea was around 12% last year and could move toward 25-30%, creating structural demand for Korean equities.
This 3PRO TV (삼프로TV) video, published January 28, 2026,
features Lee Chang-hoon
discussing EWY, KOSDAQ, SPY, QQQ, KOSPI 200, KOSDAQ 150, 005930.KS, 000660.KS, SMH, MSCI Korea Index, USD/KRW, Korean equities.
8 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.
Speakers:
Lee Chang-hoon
· Tickers:
EWY,
KOSDAQ,
SPY,
QQQ,
KOSPI 200,
KOSDAQ 150,
005930.KS,
000660.KS,
SMH,
MSCI Korea Index,
USD/KRW,
Korean equities
