On February 3, Bloomberg reported that during Tuesday's trading session on the stock market, the aggregate market capitalization of South Korea's two most prominent companies, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, soared to US$1.11 trillion. This marked the first time their combined value eclipsed that of China's two tech behemoths listed in Hong Kong—Alibaba Group and Tencent, which stood at US$1.10 trillion.

This significant shift underscores the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom's focus on infrastructure, a development that has brought substantial benefits to South Korean chip manufacturers, who occupy a pivotal position in the industrial supply chain.

Since the start of the year, Samsung Electronics' stock price has experienced a cumulative increase of 34%, while SK Hynix's has surged by approximately 37%. In stark contrast, Alibaba's stock listed in Hong Kong has seen a modest rise of around 14%, and Tencent's stock price has remained relatively stagnant year-to-date.