At its June 2026 peak, the KOSPI was up a further 112% year-to-date.

South Korea's KOSPI rose 76% last year, marking its best year in over four decades.

According to the Financial Times, Korean market volatility has been so extreme that the stock exchange paused trading 37 times in 2026, compared with three times in all of 2025.

The KOSPI is currently more volatile than it was during the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis.