🇰🇷 Korean Stock Picks (May 2025)
🤖 DeepSeek Korea stock analysis: Value (low P/B, attractive valuations), growth (high momentum, earnings potential), high dividend yield, speculative/thematic & risky high-P/E stocks + key themes.
Before getting to some Korean stocks, its should be noted that Korea has a new trading venue that’s part of an ongoing (but slow moving) effort to make the country more foreign investor friendly:
💻 Can Nextrade help cut the ‘Korea discount’? (East Asia Forum) May 31, 2025
South Korea's new Nextrade exchange, launched in March 2025, may help address the ‘Korea discount’ phenomenon by introducing extended trading hours, lower transaction fees and greater product variety while applying competitive pressure on the incumbent Korea Exchange. By serving as a platform to advance financial sector reforms and improve market accessibility for foreign investors, Nextrade could contribute to South Korea's progress toward developed market status, though operational issues and regulatory gaps remain.
💻 Is different better? Nextrade's place in the market as first KRX alternative. (Korea JoongAng Daily) March 3, 2025
So what does this mean for investors, exactly? Could it be the key to attracting foreign investors who have been offloading Korean stocks for more than half a year?
💻 Nextrade (NXT) Overview: History, Sharp Market Share Gains, and Key Differentiators (Douglas Research Insights) May 06, 2025 $
Since the start of its operations on 4 March, Nextrade (NXT) has rapidly gained its market share to nearly 25% of the total equity trading value in Korea.
Although retail investors account for about 95% of total trading value at NXT, there is a growing interest in more institutional investors trading through the Nextrade exchange.
High frequency traders as well those trying to capitalize on lower trading transaction fees and alpha generating trading events/news flow in after hour markets are increasingly trading on the NXT.
Just before publishing, I ran the rest of this post through DeepSeek and asked it the following question about the Korean stocks covered:
QUESTION: Based on the research headlines, P/Es, book values, dividend yields, technical charts and company descriptions, what stocks in the attached report would interest investors?
And the answers are under the following headings at the end of this post:
[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…]
Defense/Industrials
EV/Battery
K-Culture
China Recovery
You can decide whether or not the DeepSeek analysis is accurate or not. What is clear is that they have improved its ability to quickly review and generate an analysis from a large amount of given data or information (a close to 100 page pdf when I printed this post to a pdf file and uploaded it to DeepSeek).
Otherwise, Korean stocks from a variety of research sources covered in the rest of this post for May 2025 (but with up-to-date charts and key data):
SK Telecom, Aurora World, SoluM, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, DL E&C, Daewoo E&C, Jeju Air, SK Hynix, HYBE, Shift Up, LS Marine Solution, LigaChem Biosciences, Samsung Biologics, InBody, Kangwon Land Inc, HD Hyundai Marine Solution, Hugel, Classys, PharmaResearch, Koh Young Technology, Hanwha Aerospace, Samsung C&T, Hansae, SK Oceanplant, Makus Inc, Hyundai Motor, Amorepacific Holdings, Hyundai Rotem, Dear U, Magnachip Semiconductor, LG Chem, DIO Corp, Seegene, Misto Holdings, Youngone Corp, Hanjin KAL Corp, JYP Entertainment, Korea Investment Holdings, Shinsegae International, Shinsegae Inc, Hanwha Solutions, Nexon Games, HMM, Ray Co, Vatech, Wemade, NCsoft, LIG Nex1, Hanwha Systems, Lotte Chemical, Pearl Abyss, CJ Logistics, Cosmax, Neowiz, Cosmecca Korea, KEPCO, E-Mart, Lotte Shopping, Kolmar Holdings & KolmarBNH Co Ltd, Kolmar Korea, Paradise Co, POSCO Future M, Cafe24, SK Biopharmaceuticals, Celltrion, Dentium, KT, ESR Kendall Square REIT, Kumho Petrochemical, Yuhan, CS Wind, NAVER, Shinyoung Wacoal, Korea Zinc, Netmarble, APR, LG Uplus, SK IE Technology, CJ ENM, Studio Dragon, Amorepacific Corp, Grand Korea Leisure, Coupang, F&F, Kakao Corp, L&F, SM Entertainment, LG Energy Solution, GC Biopharma, Kakao Games, SK Innovation, Samsung Electronics, Korea Aerospace Industries, Kiwoom Securities & Hyundai Glovis
Note that our 🇰🇷 Korea stock index now has 282 Korean stocks.
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…
🔬 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.
SK Telecom
💻 SK Telecom: A Rare Opportunity For Value Investors (Seeking Alpha) May 29, 2025 $ 🗃️
🔬 SK Telecom (017670 KS/Buy) - Adopt a wait-and-see approach for now (Mirae Asset Securities) 05.14.2025 ⚠️
💻 Biggest Cyberattack in SK Telecom's History - Likely to Lead to Major Management Changes (Douglas Research Insights) May 2, 2025 $
🇰🇷 SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM / KRX: 017670 / FRA: KMBA) - Wireless telecommunication services in Korea. 3 segments: Cellular Services, Fixed-Line Telecommunications Services & Other Businesses. 🇼 🏷️
Price/Book (Current): 0.98
Forward P/E: 9.62 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 6.36% (Yahoo! Finance)
Aurora World
💻 Korea Small Cap Gem #35: Aurora World (Douglas Research Insights) May 31, 2025 $
🌐 Aurora World Corp (KOSDAQ: 039830) - Character toys. Global toy, Korea toy & content brands. 🏷️
Price/Book (Current): 0.42
Trailing P/E: 8.60 (no forward P/E) / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: N/A (Yahoo! Finance)
SoluM
🔬 SoluM (248070 KS/Buy) - Earnings growth expected in 2H25 (Mirae Asset Securities) 05.30.2025 ⚠️
🌏 SoluM Co Ltd (KRX: 248070) - Spin off the power module business, backbone of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co Ltd (KRX: 009150). Power modules, digital tuners & electronic shelf labels + TV & monitor displays, adapters, servers, LED power modules, travel chargers for mobile devices & data system& LED power supply units. 🏷️
Price/Book (Current): 1.75
Trailing P/E: 25.20 (no forward P/E) / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: N/A (Yahoo! Finance)
Hyundai Engineering & Construction
🔬 Hyundai E&C (000720 KS/Buy) - Earnings turnaround and nuclear momentum (Mirae Asset Securities) 05.29.2025 ⚠️
🌐🅿️ Hyundai Engineering & Construction (KRX: 000720 / 000725) - Driven the globalization of the Korean construction industry. 🇼 🏷️
Price/Book (Current): 1.09
Forward P/E: 14.90 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 0.77% (Yahoo! Finance)
DL E&C
🔬 DL E&C (375500 KS/Buy) - Annual OP poised to rise for the first time since spin-off (Mirae Asset Securities) 05.29.2025 ⚠️
🌏🅿️ DL E&C Co Ltd (KRX: 375500 / 37550K) - One of the top EPC companies in Asia to the Middle East. Gas, petroleum refining, chemical & petrochemical, power & energy plants, building & housing, civil works & industrial facilities. 🇼 🏷️
Price/Book (Current): 0.42
Forward P/E: 5.88 / Forward Annual Dividend Yield: 1.11% (Yahoo! Finance)
