Foreigners own the smallest share of South Korea's stock market—26.2%—since the depths of the global financial crisis
PREVIEWMr. Kim at Hanwha also pointed to worsening trade data and corporate-profit margins. And he said efforts by China and the U.S. to foster domestic production of key products such as semiconductors and batteries were likely to put pressure on prices for these goods.
How have China, Mexico and Greece handled inflation, and where does the U.S. fit in? WSJ’s Dion Rabouin explains. In August, South Korea recorded its worst trade deficit on record, while technology exports declined for the first time in more than two years. Similarly, in Taiwan semiconductor sales are slackening. There, capital outflows have totaled $43 billion so far this year, and the New Taiwan dollar has dropped about 12% against the U.S. currency.
In Seoul’s case, the financial-market ructions could boost the case for changes to help secure an upgrade to developed-market status. These could include lifting a restriction on short selling, or betting against, smaller stocks and further liberalizing trading in the won.