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New here? Start with the guide to investing in US stocks from Korea: costs, tax, and the currency.
Foreigners Have Sold ₩200 Trillion of Korean Stocks This Year. Retail Investors Are Holding the Line.
The KOSPI fell 5.46% in one day as foreign selling for the year passed ₩200 trillion, and local analysts say individual investors are now the main buyers. I am not joining them.
Win a Medal, Skip the Line? Korea's Apartment Lottery Perk for Athletes
Korea rewards some international medalists with a separate chance to buy a new apartment, and the debate over it says a lot about how Korean housing works.
Three of Korea's Five Big Banks Got Hacked. I Haven't Changed a Thing.
Customer names and national ID numbers leaked from Shinhan, KB Kookmin and Hana, possibly with help from an AI hacking tool. A Korean investor on why this leak felt different from all the others, and why her banking app settings are still the same.
Two Chipmakers, Twice the Bet: Korea's Single-Stock Leveraged ETF Losses
Korean retail investors have locked in more than ₩2.3 trillion in losses on leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Here is why I never bought one, and how the people around me use leverage.
Korea's Mortgage Rates Hit a Near-Four-Year High, and the Hikes Haven't Fully Landed Yet
Korean mortgage rates are at their highest in three years and nine months, and the Bank of Korea's summer hikes still haven't fully reached borrowers. I have no loan, nobody around me is complaining, and I'm not changing my plan.
Leaving Seoul Doesn't Make It Cheaper: The Disappearing Step-Down Home
More young people are moving out of Seoul, but the homes near the city line cost about as much, and the cheaper homes inside Seoul are rising fastest.
The Bank of Mom and Dad: Why Korean 30-Somethings Buy Homes With Family Money
Korean buyers in their 30s put about ₩3.5 trillion of family gifts and inheritance into homes in just seven months. From Seoul, this looks normal to me, and the tax code plans for it.
Why Korean Retail Investors Are Buying Bonds With KOSPI Near 7,000, and Why I Kept My Plan
Korean retail investors bought ₩4 trillion of domestic bonds in September, the most this year. I thought about moving money into bonds and waiting for a drop. I decided to keep buying on schedule.
The Jeonse Renewal Dilemma: Lock Up Your House Money as a Bigger Deposit?
Seoul jeonse prices rose 14.9% in two years. Tenants renewing now must decide whether to put their home-buying savings into a bigger deposit. Here is how it looks to me as a renter in the Seoul area who pays monthly rent.
5.29% Without the Fear: What a Calm VIX Says About Dollar Yields From Seoul
The US 10-year yield closed at 5.29% while the VIX stayed near 16. From Seoul, that calm matters more than the yield itself, because it changes what a high dollar yield is paying you for.
Korea's Chip Boom Handed the Government a ₩63 Trillion Surprise. I'm Watching Seoul Housing.
Chipmakers' profits pushed Korea's tax take ₩63.2 trillion above forecast. From Seoul, the question isn't the budget. It's whether the chip bonuses that come next end up in Seoul apartments.
When Currency Trumps Stocks: The Won Moved More Than the Market
The S&P 500 slipped 0.17% on September 29, but the won weakened 0.59% against the dollar. For an investor in Seoul, the currency was the day's real move, and the cause is not obvious.
The Government Wants to Sell You a Fund. I Looked, and Didn't Buy.
Korea sells a policy fund to retail savers with the state absorbing the first losses. I got close to subscribing and passed — because of the maturity date and because I couldn't see what it holds.
Tech Fell, the Won Firmed, and the Cushion Never Came
On Monday the Nasdaq 100 fell while the won strengthened against the dollar — the combination that makes a bad US session worse in won terms. Why the currency offset Korean investors usually get went missing.
Stocks Up, Yields Down: One Story, Two Directions From Seoul
US stocks rallied on September 21 while the ten-year Treasury yield fell — a rally priced off rates, not growth. What that looks like from a won-based account, with the Bank of Korea's base rate at 3.00%.
Relief, Not Recovery: The Bond Market Disagreed With Stocks Today
US equities surged and the won weakened, which looks like a double win from a Korean account. Falling Treasury yields and a flat dollar index say something more cautious.
Dollar Up, Won Down: What a Falling S&P Looks Like From Seoul
The won fell to 1,353.3 as the dollar index rose, on a day the S&P 500 dropped. From Seoul, a down day in US equities is never just the index — it is the index multiplied by an exchange rate, and that shows up on the tax return too.
When Treasury Yields Hit 5%, but the Won Gets Stronger
The US 10-year Treasury closed at 5.00% while the won quietly gained against a broadly stronger dollar. From Seoul, those are two legs of the same position pulling in opposite directions.
US Dividend Withholding: What Actually Lands in a Korean Account
A US dividend arrives in a Korean brokerage account already taxed, with the gross and the net both printed on the screen — and that changes what the word 'double taxation' feels like in practice.
What It Actually Costs to Buy VOO from Korea
From a Korean brokerage account, the expense ratio is the smallest cost in the trade — the FX spread, the preferential rate you have to ask for, and the commission on fill are the rest.
The Double Loss Didn't Happen Today. That's the Part Worth Watching.
US stocks fell and the dollar rose, which softened the day for a won-based investor. The configuration that actually compounds losses is the opposite one — rarer, not impossible.
Trading US Markets from Seoul: How Koreans Stopped Staying Up
The US market opens at 11:30 PM in Seoul. For years that meant alarms and broken sleep. Then Korean brokers started selling US stocks during our daytime — and it broke once.
Korea's Tax Shelters Assume You Trade. I Don't.
I have an ISA and I don't use it. Most Korean tax-advantaged accounts only pay off if you realize gains — which makes them a poor fit for buy-and-hold.
Same Index, Different Tax Bill: Two Ways to Buy the S&P 500 from Korea
A Korea-listed S&P 500 ETF and the US-listed original are taxed under completely different rules. The lower rate isn't always the cheaper one.
I Missed the Filing Deadline for Korean Capital Gains Tax. Here's What I Learned Doing It Myself
Korean brokers usually file your foreign stock capital gains tax for you. I missed that window, filed late by hand, and calculated my own penalty.