Foreign Investors Sell 20.3 Trillion Won in Korean Stocks as Chip Giants Lead Outflow

Foreign investors sold a net 20.3 trillion won ($15.1 billion) of shares on South Korea’s benchmark Kospi market over the past month, with the retreat heavily concentrated in the country’s two largest memory-chip producers.

Data from the Korea Exchange and financial information provider Yonhap Infomax showed net foreign sales of 20.305 trillion won from Sept. 1 through Oct. 2. The tally includes transactions in the after-market session introduced on Sept. 15. Overseas investors were net buyers on only seven of the period’s 22 trading days, while net selling surpassed 3 trillion won on Sept. 28 alone.

SK hynix absorbed the largest outflow, with foreign investors selling a net 12.009 trillion won of its shares. Samsung Electronics followed with net sales of 5.186 trillion won. Together, the two semiconductor bellwethers dominated the withdrawal from Korean equities, showing how shifts in overseas demand for a small number of heavyweight stocks can shape the wider market.

Foreign ownership of SK hynix fell to 49.76 percent as of Oct. 2, its lowest level since May 2023. The comparable foreign ownership ratio for Samsung Electronics stood at 46.41 percent, while foreign investors’ share of the overall Kospi market was 39.66 percent.

The selling has been attributed in part to profit-taking after a strong advance in semiconductor shares. Persistent geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the prolonged U.S.-Iran conflict and interest-rate increases in major economies, led by the United States, have also weighed on appetite for risk assets. Higher global borrowing costs can make equities less attractive and increase pressure on markets that depend heavily on international capital flows.

The figures put the focus on whether the approaching corporate earnings season can restore demand for Korean stocks. Strong results from chipmakers may help support sentiment, but investors will also be watching the outlook for future profits, global interest rates, oil prices and the won-dollar exchange rate. Those external variables could determine whether the recent sales represent temporary profit-taking or a more sustained reduction in foreign exposure.

For South Korea’s market, the scale and concentration of the outflow are especially significant because Samsung Electronics and SK hynix carry substantial weight in the Kospi. Any return of overseas buying would therefore be likely to depend heavily on confidence in the earnings trajectory of the semiconductor sector as well as a more stable global investment environment.