South Korean stocks experienced significant volatility in the U.S. market on Tuesday due to political turmoil in Korea. President Yoon Suk Yeol was compelled to revoke an earlier declaration of emergency martial law, causing concerns about instability in the country’s economy, which is ranked as the 13th largest in the world.
The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY), a fund that includes more than 90 large and mid-sized South Korean companies, plummeted by as much as 7%, reaching a 52-week low. However, the ETF managed to recover some of its losses and closed the day down by 1.6% after President Yoon announced the withdrawal of the martial law decree following the National Assembly’s vote to overturn it.
Despite the rebound, the ETF is still facing its fifth consecutive day of decline with unusually high trading volume. Trading volume exceeded 35 million shares on Tuesday, which is more than 10 times the average volume over the past 30 days.
U.S.-traded shares of Korean companies also experienced fluctuations. Korea Electric Power’s American depositary receipts (ADRs) fell over 2%, while e-commerce giant Coupang saw a decline of 3.7%. KT Corp. and Posco, a South Korean steel manufacturer, also witnessed drops in their share prices.
Within three hours of President Yoon’s martial law declaration, 190 out of the 300 National Assembly lawmakers convened to overturn the emergency order. The president accused opposition parties of aligning with North Korea and controlling the parliament, without specifying the impact of martial law on governance and democracy in the country.
In response to the situation, the White House National Security Council stated that they are in communication with the South Korean government and closely monitoring the developments. Under the martial law declaration, all political activities and actions that could incite social unrest are prohibited. This marks the first instance of a South Korean leader declaring martial law since 1980.
The Korea Exchange announced that the stock market would resume trading as usual at 9 a.m. KST on Wednesday. The U.S. dollar strengthened by approximately 0.9% against the South Korean won on Tuesday.
The events in South Korea have raised concerns about the stability of the country’s economy and the impact of political turmoil on financial markets. Investors will be closely watching for further developments in the coming days to assess the long-term implications of the situation on South Korea’s economic prospects.
