Lee Jae Myung

Money Moves

Managing extended crisis response; stabilization package in active deployment phase

South Korea's stock market was the best performer among major economies in early 2026, riding a semiconductor boom that pushed the benchmark KOSPI index to an all-time high of 6,347 on February 27. Five days later, the index had lost nearly 20% of its value in the worst two-day crash in the country's history, triggered by the United States and Israel striking Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow waterway through which 95% of South Korea's Middle Eastern oil imports flow. By late March, nearly four weeks into the crisis, the KOSPI had recovered to around 5,800, recouping roughly half its losses, though it remains significantly below its pre-crisis peak.

Updated Mar 27

Money Moves

Advancing corporate governance reforms and stock market development agenda

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI stock index crossed 6,000 points for the first time on February 25, 2026, completing its climb from 5,000 to 6,000 in just 34 trading days—the fastest thousand-point advance in the index's history. The index has gained 43% since January and 76% in 2025, making Seoul's market the best-performing major bourse in the world. Two companies explain most of the move: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for roughly 40% of the KOSPI's market capitalization and produce approximately 80% of the world's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips—the specialized components that artificial intelligence data centers cannot run without.

Updated Feb 25

Rule Changes

In office

South Korea has not executed anyone in 28 years. Yet on January 13, 2026, prosecutors asked a Seoul court to sentence former President Yoon Suk Yeol to death. Three days later, a different court convicted him on obstruction of justice charges, handing down a five-year prison sentence—the first of eight criminal verdicts stemming from his six-hour martial law declaration on December 3, 2024. Yoon is the first South Korean president to face execution since military strongman Chun Doo-hwan in 1996, and the first to be criminally sentenced while the country's democratic institutions remain intact.

Updated Jan 20

Force in Play

In office since June 2025, term ends 2030

South Korea handed control of its military to the United States during the Korean War's desperate opening weeks in 1950. Seventy-five years later, Seoul is finally on the verge of getting it back. The new permanent Combined Ground Component Command—activated in January 2026—marks the fourth of six command structures now operating year-round, putting a Korean general at the helm of ground forces for the first time.

Updated Jan 14

Force in Play

Conducting four-day state visit to China with 200+ business leaders; summit with Xi scheduled January 6

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on January 4, 2026, hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for Beijing to meet Xi Jinping. The missiles—traveling 900-950 kilometers at 50-kilometer altitudes—were Pyongyang's first weapons test of 2026 and a clear signal to both Seoul and its Chinese patron: don't make deals without us. Just hours before the launch, Kim Jong Un visited a tactical weapons factory and ordered production capacity expanded by 250 percent to meet 2026's "anticipated requirements."

Updated Jan 4

Rule Changes

In office after June 2025 snap election triggered by Yoon’s removal

South Korea just made the quiet part of the 2024 martial-law crisis unmistakably loud: the country’s top police officer is out for good. On December 18, 2025, the Constitutional Court removed National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho, ruling he helped former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s power grab by using police to block lawmakers from reaching the National Assembly floor.

Updated Dec 18, 2025