In July 2026, the South Korean stock market witnessed a significant sell-off, primarily driven by a concentrated unwinding of popular artificial intelligence (AI)-related trading positions that had been in vogue throughout the year. This downturn rendered it the poorest-performing stock market on a global scale during the third quarter. Compounded by the sell-off in memory chip stocks, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had plummeted by 18.8% over the course of three months as of September 30.
