Foreign investors are pulling money out of South Korea at a pace that would make even seasoned market watchers wince. Net sales of approximately $13.2 billion in Korean equities during a single week in mid-May triggered a 4% drop in the KOSPI, and the bleeding hasn’t stopped.
The selling streak has now stretched across 12 sessions through late May, with total foreign outflows reaching roughly 46.58 trillion won, or about $30.7 billion.
Semiconductors at the center of the storm
The exits aren’t spread evenly across the market. They’re concentrated in South Korea’s crown jewels: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Foreign net sales in those two semiconductor giants alone exceeded 10 trillion won, roughly $6.6 billion, in a separate week during May. Profit-taking from earlier AI rallies has been cited as a key driver.
