Why the world’s hottest stock market is a national liability
South Korea’s wild stock price swings are hurting the country’s image.
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Currency dealers working a late-night shift in preparation for the launch of South Korea’s 24-hour won-dollar trading market at Hana Bank’s dealing room in Seoul on June 16.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ruchir Sharma
The world’s best-performing stock market this year is South Korea, but you wouldn’t know it from the headlines, which are all about its “crazy” price swings and fanatical local traders. The stock market’s wild ways have made it a national liability.
South Korea’s market has been unusually jumpy for decades, in part because retail investors account for a large share of daily trading. Now the ups and downs of a market driven by artificial intelligence companies are making it even more mercurial. The volatility of the South Korean market is running above 60 per cent in 2026, with a summer peak near 100. Volatility of this magnitude has not been recorded before in any major country during good times, and rarely even in extreme crises.