If you want some more colour about my decision to change my mind on Korea for the near term at least, you need look no further than these headlines from news aggregators PiQ.

“The KOSPI just had its worst day in its entire 46-year history.

A 12% plunge on Wednesday, following a 7.2% drop on Tuesday, triggered circuit breakers and wiped out half a trillion dollars in market value in two sessions.

Of more than 800 stocks on the benchmark, just ten finished in the green. The volatility gauge hit levels not seen since 2008.

Samsung fell 11.7%. SK Hynix dropped 9.2%. Hyundai Motor collapsed 16%. The won slid to a 17-year low against the dollar. This was a market that had rallied 34% since the start of 2025, driven almost entirely by semiconductor and AI optimism. Margin debt and investor deposits at brokerages had surged to record highs. The correction, when it came, was savage.”

“South Korea imports virtually all of its oil. Net oil imports run at 2.7% of GDP, making it one of the most exposed economies in Asia to a sustained energy price shock. Nomura flagged it among the most vulnerable to current account pressures from rising crude. (Reuters/Bloomberg).”