Over the past two months, South Korean retail investors have become the primary buyers of semiconductor and memory stocks. This collective activity offset significant sell-offs by foreign investors, helping the Kospi index recover more than 20% from its late-July 2026 lows.
In early August 2026, foreign investors sold nearly $4.3 billion in Korean chip stocks, reducing their holdings in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to near yearly lows. Domestic traders responded by funneling capital into specialized financial instruments.
Around mid-August, individual investors directed approximately ₩120 billion, or about $85.6 million, into the Roundhill Memory ETF. Additionally, single-stock leveraged ETFs linked to SK Hynix saw inflows exceeding $2 billion within a single week in August.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix remain central to the global supply chain for high-bandwidth memory used in AI infrastructure. SK Hynix serves as a key supplier for Nvidia, positioning its stock as a proxy for broader AI spending trends.
