🇰🇷 Korean Stock Picks (February 2024)

InBody, Samsung Life, SK Telecom, KT, Classys, Kakao, Hanwha Aerospace, KB Financial Group, NAVER, SM Entertainment, Korea Aerospace Industries, Korean Air, Cosmecca, Hyundai Motor, etc.

Singapore based CNA has this excellent documentary about Korea’s recent political turmoil and its ramifications:

🎥 Inside South Korea’s 6-Hour Martial Law Chaos & President Yoon's "Political Suicide" | Insight (CNA Insider) 46:56 Minutes (December 2024)

On the 3rd of December, South Korea was plunged into chaos. President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in a shock move. Lawmakers scrambled to vote to lift the order, even as soldiers received instructions to stop them. In the end, South Korea was under martial law for six tense hours, before it was lifted. In the two weeks that followed, the country would struggle to deal with what happened.

Why did President Yoon invoke martial law? Were there legitimate reasons, or was this an attempted power grab? Insight explores what led up to the fateful night of 3rd December, how it echoed South Korea’s troubled past, and what happened in the weeks that followed.

• 00:00 Introduction

• 01:53 After martial law was declared

• 07:47 South Korea’s past under military rule

• 11:22 The rush to lift martial law

• 13:50 Unions take action against Yoon

• 15:27 President Yoon came to power on shaky grounds

• 19:34 S. Korea’s longest strike: Medical Worker Strikes

• 21:48 How S. Korea’s government became gridlocked

• 24:14 Why Yoon called for martial law

• 25:39 Stagnating economy and Yoon’s approval

• 30:13 A scandal involving the First Lady

• 32:56 First steps to Yoon's impeachment

• 35:45 First impeachment vote fails

• 38:07 Impact on S. Korea with no one at the helm

• 42:08 Second impeachment vote and what happens next

The recent political turmoil aside, potentially bigger problems for investors in Korean stocks (or rather Korean auto related stocks) comes from the threat of tariffs:

💻 Japanese Carmakers Face Catastrophic Profit Hit From Trump's Auto Tariffs (Zero Hedge) March 2025 🗃️

Hyundai “remains committed to the long-term growth of the US automotive industry through localized production and innovation,” the company said in a statement, noting it employs 570,000 people in the US. Unfortunately, according to Trump, it should employ many more, and if the company - which imports almost 60% of the cars it sells in the US - wishes to avoid tariffs, it will have to not only hire more American workers, but build many more US plants. Oh, and this is just the beginning: once the reciprocal tariffs kick in next week, South Korean exporters will find themselves in a world of pain.

However:

📰 Hyundai, Trump announce $21 billion US investment, new steel plant March 2025

• South Korea's Hyundai Motor (KRX: 005380 / FRA: HYU / OTCMKTS: HYMTF) announced a $21 billion investment in the United States with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

• The investment includes a new $5.8 billion Hyundai Steel Co (KRX: 004020) plant in Louisiana that will produce over 2.7 million metric tons of steel annually, creating more than 1,400 jobs. The steel plant is expected to supply steel to auto plants in Alabama and Georgia.

In addition, Korean media has a slightly different take on recent market hiccups:

📰 KOSPI falls below 2,600 as tariff, short selling fears rattle markets (The Chosun Daily) March 2025

• South Korean stocks tumbled Thursday as heightened market uncertainty weighed on investor sentiment ahead of the reinstatement of short selling and the rollout of reciprocal tariffs with the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell below the 2,600 threshold, while the tech-heavy Kosdaq dropped under 700 for the first time in three months.

• “The domestic market is experiencing peak uncertainty, particularly with the president’s impeachment ruling imminent,” said an official at a local brokerage. “There’s a growing sentiment that ‘something big is coming next week.’”

• Lee Jae-won, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., said the KOSPI was bracing for two key events next week — the return of short selling and the implementation of mutual tariffs — prompting a flight from risk assets.

Otherwise, investors should also note this news from a few days ago:

📰 Korea’s Nextrade stock exchange debuts; YG Entertainment tops 1st day (The Korean Economic Daily) March 2025

• Launched with 10 blue chips, the alternative stock exchange NXT plans to expand its listing pool to 800 stocks by end-March

• South Korea’s first alternative stock exchange Nextrade (NXT) started trading on Tuesday, challenging the Korea Exchange’s (KRX) long-standing monopoly.

• The new exchange, designed to introduce competition into the country’s capital markets, opened trading with 10 selected stocks, including Lotte Shopping Co Ltd (KRX: 023530).

• The NXT operator said it plans to expand its listing pool to 110 stocks by March 17, further increasing this to 350 by March 24 and 800 by March 31.

With all of that said, Korea is more than just Hyundai Motor (KRX: 005380 / FRA: HYU / OTCMKTS: HYMTF), Kia Corp (KRX: 000270 / OTCMKTS: KIMTF), Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930 / 005935 / LON: BC94 / FRA: SSUN / OTCMKTS: SSNLF), etc.

Korean stocks covered in the rest of this post (with a short description from our Japan, Korea & Taiwan Stock Index plus price/book, forward P/E, forward dividend yield and a long term technical chart):

[Note: On desktop browsers, an autogenerated table of contents will appear on the left side linked to each stock. I will add those links below after publishing/emailing this post…]

BH Co Ltd, HanAll Biopharma, Seegene, POSCO International & Seah Steel Holdings Corp, HYBE, Cosmax Inc, HMM, Yuhan Corp, DB Insurance, HD Hyundai Marine Solution, InBody, Samsung Life Insurance, LG Uplus, SK Telecom, KT Corp, Meritz Financial Group, Rainbow Robotics, Vatech, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, DL E&C Co Ltd, KB Financial Group, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, KEPCO Plant Service & Engineering Co Ltd, T'Way Air & TWay Holdings Incorporation, Lotte Tour Development, Netmarble Corp, Classys, Kakao Corp, Hugel, Neowiz, Soop Co Ltd, Studio Dragon, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, CJ ENM Co Ltd, Vieworks, NCSoft Corp, Samyang Foods Co Ltd, Kakao Games, Krafton, CJ Logistics, Hanwha Aerospace, NAVER, Samsung Electronics, PharmaResearch Co Ltd, OCI Holdings, Shift Up Corp, APR Co Ltd, Hanwha Systems Co Ltd, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, SM Entertainment Co Ltd, Lotte Chemical, Magnachip Semiconductor Corp, L&F Co Ltd, LX International, Korea Aerospace Industries, Korean Air, HL Mando Corp, Shinhan Financial Group, SK Biopharmaceuticals, BNK Financial Group, Hyundai Glovis, Douzone Bizon, Hanwha Solutions, Hyundai Rotem, Samsung Heavy Industries, GS Engineering & Construction Corp, Young Poong Precision Corporation, Hana Financial Group, Samsung C&T Corp, Cosmecca Korea & Englewood Lab, Kakao Pay, Kiwoom Securities, Hyosung Heavy Industries Corp, Kumho Petrochemical, Hanmi Pharma, Pulmuone Corporate, LG CNS Co Ltd, Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp, LG Chem, Dong-A ST Co Ltd & Hyundai Motor

And as always, this post is provided for informational purposes only (and to make your life easier…). It does not constitute investment advice and/or a recommendation…

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🔬 Research analysis (including articles/blog posts from fund managers, etc.); 🎥 Video; 🎙️ Podcast; 🎬 Webinar; 📰 Newspaper/magazine article; 📯 Press release; 💻 Substack/blog/website article; ✅ Our own posts; 🗃️ Archived article; ⏰ Upcoming webinar or event; ⚠️ Disclosures or restricted access e.g. based on your location, investor status, etc.; 🇼 Wikipedia page; 🏷️ Tagged links to other posts about the stock.

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BH Co Ltd

🔬 BH (090460 KS/Buy) - Valuation to normalize (Mirae Asset Securities) 02.28.2025 ⚠️

• 🇰🇷 BH Co Ltd (KRX: 090460) - FPCB (Flexible Printed Circuit Board), an essential part of electronic products used in mobile, notebook, TV, game console, auto display, VR, auto smartphone wireless charger & electric vehicle battery pack applications. 🏷️

• Price/Book (Current): 0.64

• Forward P/E: 6.02 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 1.71% (Yahoo! Finance)

HanAll Biopharma

🔬 HanAll Biopharma (009420 KS/Buy) - 1Q25 to be a key inflection point (Mirae Asset Securities) 02.27.2025 ⚠️

• 🌐 HanAll Biopharma (KRX: 009420) - Specialty drugs & over-the-counter products. 🏷️

• Price/Book (Current): 8.70

• Trailing P/E: 421.02 (no forward P/E) / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: N/A (Yahoo! Finance)

Seegene

🔬 Seegene (096530 KQ/Buy) - Resetting for growth (Mirae Asset Securities) 02.27.2025 ⚠️

• 🌐 Seegene (KRX: 096530) - In vitro diagnostic products (molecular diagnostics). Assays & screening products for sepsis, respiratory diseases & STDs. USA, Canada, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Brazil & Middle East. 🇼 🏷️

• Price/Book (Current): 1.13

• Trailing P/E: 39.53 (no forward P/E) / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 3.19% (Yahoo! Finance)

POSCO International & Seah Steel Holdings Corp

💻 POSCO Int & Seah Steel Holdings: Key Beneficiaries of Trump's Plan to Develop Alaskan Gas Fields (Douglas Research Insights) Feb 27, 2025 $

🔬 POSCO International (047050 KS/Buy) - Strengthened shareholder return policy (Mirae Asset Securities) 02.04.2025 ⚠️

• 🌐 Posco International Corp (KRX: 047050) - Largest trading company & a subsidiary of Posco (NYSE: PKX). Energy, steel, agro, component materials, etc. 🇼 🏷️

• Price/Book (Current): 0.41

• Trailing P/E: 24.25 (no forward P/E) / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 3.52% (Yahoo! Finance)

• 🌐 Seah Steel Holdings Corp (KRX: 003030) - Steel pipes for construction, shipbuilding & energy + offshore wind power substructure market. 🇼 🏷️

• Price/Book (Current): 0.48

• Forward P/E: 22.55 (no forward P/E) / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 0.75% (Yahoo! Finance)