Korean Media: Buying 100 Trillion Won in U.S. Stocks... South Korea Becomes the Largest Buyer of U.S. Stocks
As of November last year, 66.3 billion dollars were bought... Surge in South Korean Investment in the U.S. Plus High Exchange Rates
With Korean individual and institutional investors, as well as national pension funds increasing their investments in American stocks, the net purchase volume of U.S. stocks by Koreans in 2025 has topped the world.
On the 18th, this newspaper analyzed the results of the U.S. Treasury's "Foreign Investment in U.S. Securities" statistics, which showed that from January to November 2025, Korean investors netly purchased a total of 66.3 billion U.S. dollars (approximately 98 trillion South Korean won) in U.S. stocks. This is the largest amount among 77 countries, excluding those with tax avoidance purposes such as the Cayman Islands and Ireland. This is also the first time since the relevant statistics began in 2020 that South Korea has become the largest net buyer of U.S. stocks. The total net purchase of U.S. stocks by foreigners in 2025 was 62.61 billion U.S. dollars, with South Korea accounting for 11%.
The next country after South Korea is Norway, which invests in the U.S. through sovereign funds, with an amount of 63.9 billion U.S. dollars. The top 5 also include Singapore (59.3 billion U.S. dollars), France (49.4 billion U.S. dollars), and Switzerland (33.2 billion U.S. dollars). South Korea far exceeds countries and regions such as Singapore, Japan (12.6 billion U.S. dollars), and Taiwan (9.8 billion U.S. dollars), becoming the "big buyer" in Asia. In 2024, Singapore ranked first, while South Korea ranked seventh with 14.9 billion U.S. dollars.
Because Korean investors have heavily bought U.S. stocks driven by the AI (artificial intelligence) boom, the exchange rate has not stabilized since the dollar broke 1,400 South Korean won (approximately 6.6 yuan RMB) in September 2025. In December 2025, the South Korean government introduced measures to exempt income tax on funds flowing back from selling U.S. stocks, and the momentum of buying U.S. stocks only slightly declined at the end of the year, then sharply rebounded after the start of the new year. In response, Lee Nam-woo, president of the Korean Corporate Governance Forum (professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University), said: "Although the government has continuously improved the market fundamentals by amending the Commercial Law, it has still failed to restore the trust of Korean investors. Koreans who have experienced years of stock market downturns have instead shown reverse discrimination against the Korean market."
Source: Chosun Ilbo
Original: toutiao.com/article/1854744637960256/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.