Korean AI stocks
The Seoul listings behind AI hardware, by their KOSPI and KOSDAQ codes: 23 companies across 6 parts of the supply chain.
The companies
Memory and HBM
| Company | Code | Board | Price | Change | Market cap | What it makes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK Hynix (Korea) | 000660 | KOSPI | ₩1,508,000 | +12.45% | ₩1,102T ($820.2B) | HBM memory for AI accelerators |
| Samsung Electronics | 005930 | KOSPI | ₩245,000 | +10.36% | ₩1,432T ($1.07T) | Memory, foundry and the broader electronics business |
| SK Square | 402340 | KOSPI | ₩936,000 | +13.04% | ₩123T ($91.9B) | Holding company whose main asset is SK Hynix |
Chip equipment
| Company | Code | Board | Price | Change | Market cap | What it makes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanmi Semiconductor | 042700 | KOSPI | ₩205,500 | +7.37% | ₩19.6T ($14.6B) | Thermal compression bonders for HBM stacking |
| HPSP | 403870 | KOSDAQ | ₩47,850 | +3.80% | ₩3.9T ($2.9B) | High-pressure annealing equipment |
| Wonik IPS | 240810 | KOSDAQ | ₩100,400 | +7.04% | ₩4.9T ($3.7B) | Deposition and etch equipment for memory |
| Jusung Engineering | 036930 | KOSDAQ | ₩186,900 | +6.92% | ₩8.7T ($6.5B) | Atomic layer deposition equipment |
Test and packaging
| Company | Code | Board | Price | Change | Market cap | What it makes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leeno Industrial | 058470 | KOSDAQ | ₩64,300 | +4.72% | ₩4.9T ($3.6B) | Test probes and probe cards |
| Techwing | 089030 | KOSDAQ | ₩41,650 | +8.89% | ₩1.5T ($1.1B) | Memory test handlers |
| Hana Micron | 067310 | KOSDAQ | ₩37,650 | +6.06% | ₩2.5T ($1.9B) | Semiconductor packaging and test |
| ISC | 095340 | KOSDAQ | ₩166,400 | +9.98% | ₩3.5T ($2.6B) | Test sockets |
Components and materials
| Company | Code | Board | Price | Change | Market cap | What it makes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electro-Mechanics | 009150 | KOSPI | ₩1,315,000 | +9.49% | ₩98.2T ($73.1B) | FC-BGA package substrates and MLCCs |
| LG Innotek | 011070 | KOSPI | ₩368,000 | -1.74% | ₩8.7T ($6.5B) | Camera modules and package substrates |
| Simmtech | 222800 | KOSDAQ | ₩129,100 | +10.15% | ₩5.0T ($3.7B) | Package substrates for memory |
| Soulbrain | 357780 | KOSDAQ | ₩321,500 | +4.72% | ₩2.5T ($1.9B) | Process chemicals for chipmaking |
| Sam-A Aluminium | 006110 | KOSPI | ₩63,800 | +2.41% | ₩964.9B ($718M) | Aluminum foil for energy-storage and secondary batteries |
Power and data centers
| Company | Code | Board | Price | Change | Market cap | What it makes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HD Hyundai Electric | 267260 | KOSPI | ₩466,500 | +3.67% | ₩16.8T ($12.5B) | Transformers and switchgear |
| LS Electric | 010120 | KOSPI | ₩166,400 | +5.25% | ₩25.0T ($18.6B) | Power distribution and automation |
| Hyosung Heavy Industries | 298040 | KOSPI | ₩2,023,000 | +5.69% | ₩18.9T ($14.0B) | Transformers and heavy electrical equipment |
| Doosan Enerbility | 034020 | KOSPI | ₩62,000 | +5.26% | ₩39.7T ($29.6B) | Power plant equipment, turbines and nuclear components |
AI platforms
| Company | Code | Board | Price | Change | Market cap | What it makes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naver | 035420 | KOSPI | ₩178,400 | +2.35% | ₩27.1T ($20.2B) | Korea's search platform and HyperCLOVA X |
| Samsung SDS | 018260 | KOSPI | ₩223,500 | +3.95% | ₩17.3T ($12.9B) | IT services, cloud and data centers |
| Kakao | 035720 | KOSPI | ₩29,900 | +1.36% | ₩13.2T ($9.9B) | Messaging platform building consumer AI |
What drives Korean AI stocks
These are not US chip stocks with a different currency. Six things move this list, and most of them are visible from outside Korea before they show up in a quarterly result.
HBM qualification
High bandwidth memory is sold into a customer’s accelerator programme, not onto a spot market, so a maker has to pass that customer’s qualification before it ships at volume. Qualification is close to binary and it reprices a stock in a day: passing converts a capacity plan into revenue, and missing pushes it a generation. It is also the mechanism that makes the tooling names move in sympathy, because the bonders and testers are bought against a qualified ramp rather than a hoped-for one.
Export data
Korea publishes trade figures faster than almost any comparable economy, including a 20-day export reading partway through each month from the Korea Customs Service, broken out by product. Semiconductors are a large enough share of the total that the chip line is read as a demand indicator for the industry rather than for Korea alone. For this list it is the earliest public number that says whether volumes are actually moving, weeks ahead of any company reporting.
The won
These companies earn in dollars and report in won, so a weaker won flatters reported earnings without anything changing in the business, and a stronger one does the reverse. For a US reader the currency cuts twice: it moves the reported figure, and it moves what the shares are worth once converted back. That is why every price on this page carries a dollar conversion at a stamped rate rather than a live one.
Competition from China
Chinese memory capacity is the structural risk to the commodity end of this list, and it is usually framed as simple undercutting. That framing has not held up: CXMT has at points quoted Apple above the Korean makers, which says it is competing on supply and qualification rather than on price alone. The distinction matters, because a rival winning slots at parity pricing is a different problem from one starting a price war, and it is the conventional DRAM line rather than HBM that is exposed first.
Equipment order cycles
The tooling names on this list sell capital equipment, so their revenue arrives in lumps tied to someone else’s decision to build. Orders are announced, disclosed and often large relative to the company, which makes these the most volatile part of the list and the part where a single contract can reset the year. They lead the memory makers on the way up, because tools are bought before wafers ship, and they fall harder when a plan is deferred.
Samsung and SK Hynix capex
Almost everything else here is downstream of what those two decide to spend. A capex number announced in Seoul sets the order book for the bonder makers, the test houses, the substrate suppliers and the power equipment names, which is why the list is grouped the way it is. The two are also each other’s competition in HBM, so a share shift between them changes who the supply chain is selling into without changing the total.
What this covers, and what it does not
The memory, tooling, and components behind AI hardware are largely made in Korea, and most of it has no US ticker. Each company above has its own page with the quote, the chart, analyst targets, reported fundamentals, and our coverage of that company. Nothing here is investment advice.
These pages carry the price, the market cap, analyst consensus and our own coverage. They do not carry SEC filings, Form 4 insider trades or congressional trading, because Korean companies do not file with the SEC. That data exists in Korea, at the Korea Exchange and the Financial Supervisory Service, in a different format and on a different schedule.
Prices are quoted in won. Every figure has a dollar conversion beside it at the rate stamped above. Seoul trades 9:00am to 3:30pm Korea time, which is 8:00pm to 2:30am Eastern, so the Korean session runs overnight for a US reader.
Our recent Korea coverage
- CXMT (688825) tops the Shanghai Composite. Most Korean STAR Market ETFs are waiting on STAR 50 and Stock Connect. Oct 28, 2026
- SK Hynix (000660) quarterly revenue hits $78.8 billion as company plans $75 billion in shareholder returns Oct 27, 2026
- Korea's Fine M-Tec (441270) denies its parts caused iPhone Duo screen cracks. Its stock fell 15.7% in a day. Oct 27, 2026
- Samsung (005930) parks $3.8 billion in deposits paying about 4%. Household deposits at Korea's big banks fell 6.2 trillion won ($4.7B) this year. Oct 26, 2026
- Korean-speaking hackers plan PHP2Shell attacks on governments and banks, CYFIRMA says Oct 24, 2026
- SK Hynix stops Solidigm's Nasdaq IPO plan. Its stock rose 4.4% the same day. Oct 22, 2026
- Kospi rebounds 2.46% as Samsung and SK Hynix rally on Supermicro's sales estimate. Meta reports next. Oct 20, 2026
- Korean GPU cloud company Elice Group (0158S0) falls 32% in Kosdaq debut despite $7.7 billion in retail deposits Oct 20, 2026
Frequently asked questions
Can a US investor buy Korean stocks?
Not easily through an ordinary US brokerage account. Seoul-listed shares are bought through a broker with Korean market access, and most US retail accounts do not have it. SK Hynix is the exception on this list: it also trades on the Nasdaq as SKHY, a separate security where one American depositary share represents 0.1 of an ordinary Seoul share.
What is a KOSPI or KOSDAQ code?
Korean listings are identified by a six-digit number rather than letters. Samsung Electronics is 005930, SK Hynix is 000660. KOSPI is the main board and KOSDAQ is the board for smaller and growth companies, which is where most of the Korean chip equipment names trade.
Why does Korea matter to the AI trade?
High bandwidth memory is made by three companies in the world and two of them are Korean. The tools that stack it, the parts that test it and the substrates that carry the finished processor are largely Korean too. A lot of the AI supply chain has no US-listed equivalent.