1. Semiconductors

The KOSPI's sharp fall on 15th October dragged Samsung Electronics down 9.48% to 210,000 won and SK Hynix down 11.06% to 1,262,000 won. Two factors drove the sell-off: stronger-than-expected American consumer-price inflation for September, and growing scepticism about how quickly investment in AI data centres will translate into returns. Foreign investors directed their selling squarely at chipmakers. By 16th October both had partially recovered — Samsung by 2.62% and SK Hynix by 0.79% — though both lagged the broader market's 2.05% rebound.

2. Substrates

At the Korea Electronics Show (KES 2026) on 13th October, Moon Hyuk-soo, president of LG Innotek, said the company is continuing to expand long-term supply agreements for FC-BGA (flip-chip ball-grid-array) substrates with major global technology firms, and expects the business to improve from next year. On glass substrates — where a pilot production line is already running in Gumi — he described development as still at an early stage and projected commercial supply around 2028.

3. Internet

According to data provider Mobile Index, estimated gross payment volume across twelve major South Korean e-commerce platforms fell 2.1% year on year to 6.68 trillion won in September. Coupang bucked the trend, growing 3.9% to 4.85 trillion won and lifting its share of total platform payments from 68.5% to 72.7%. The rest fared poorly: G-Market fell 30.0%, 11Street dropped 29.7%, Auction slid 35.7%, and AliExpress tumbled 36.9%. G-Market, 11Street and Auction together accounted for 75.6% of the aggregate decline.

4. Renewable Energy

At an industry event on 16th October, Hanwha Solutions' Q Cells division called on the South Korean government to introduce domestic manufacturing tax credits for solar products. The company cited a 35-percentage-point decline in South Korean modules' share of the home market between 2021 and 2025, with cell market share now as low as 3.9%. Q Cells said it aims to begin mass production of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells by end-2028, and plans to raise the revenue share from ultra-high-voltage and HVDC (high-voltage direct current) cable materials to roughly four times last year's level by 2031.

5. Shipbuilding

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering announced on 15th October that it had won an order from a Middle Eastern shipping company for four very large gas carriers (VLGCs), worth 625.8 billion won in total.

6. Nuclear Power

Reports emerged on 14th October that SK, Samsung C&T, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Doosan Enerbility are all considering taking equity stakes in America's Westinghouse Electric. The South Korean government is understood to be pursuing a combined 5–10% stake through Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, with total private-sector investment mooted at up to roughly 4 trillion won. Separately, Hana Securities on 16th October flagged the possibility of Doosan Enerbility securing additional orders for key small modular reactor (SMR) components before year-end, but cut its target price by 27.3% to 120,000 won, citing a third-quarter operating-profit estimate of 194.1 billion won that falls short of market expectations.

7. Hotels

Kyobo Securities estimates Hotel Shilla's consolidated operating profit for the third quarter at 51.2 billion won, below the market consensus of 59.8 billion won. Duty-free sales are projected to fall 13.0% to 739.4 billion won. The hotel and leisure division, however, is expected to benefit from rising average daily room rates (ADR), with revenue up 13.0% and operating profit up 20.1% to 26.2 billion won.

8. Capital Markets

The KOSPI plunged 7.57% on 15th October to close at 5,554.22, its lowest level in six months, after foreign investors sold more than 3.6 trillion won worth of shares — with intraday losses at one point exceeding 9%. The index recovered 2.05% on 16th October to 5,668.05, as foreign investors turned net buyers for the first time in nine sessions, purchasing a net 344.9 billion won. In the eight trading sessions from 2nd October, foreign investors had sold a cumulative net 18.13 trillion won.