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Traders at the Woori Bank trading room celebrate the KOSPI breaking 6,000 for the first time in history on Feb. 25, 2026. (Jung Yong-il/Hankyoreh)

The KOSPI smashed through another milestone on Wednesday, soaring to a record 6,000 just one month after breaking 5,000 for the first time on Jan. 27. As of Wednesday, the benchmark index has skyrocketed 125.4% since the June 2025 Korean presidential election, with a whopping 44.4% jump in the first two months of 2026 alone.

The KOSPI set the new record upon opening at 6,022.70 on Wednesday, 53.06 points (0.89%) above the previous trading day. After a slight period of wavering and dipping below 6,000, the index rebounded to a high of 6,144.71 at one point before closing at 6,083.86, an increase of 114.22 points (1.91%).

This caused the KOSPI’s total market capitalization to climb to 5.02 quadrillion won, surpassing the 5-quadrillion won mark for the first time.

The index’s explosive growth is continuing this year, falling on just six of the 36 trading days to Feb. 25.

The 44.4% rise so far this year stands head and shoulders above rates of return in other major stock markets around the world. According to Investing.com, the second fastest-growing index is Turkey’s BIST with 23.5%, followed by the Japanese Nikkei 225 with 16.3%. As of Tuesday (local time), the New York Stock Exchange’s S&P 500 had only risen 0.65% this year, while the Nasdaq Composite had fallen by 1.63%.

Semiconductor firms Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the two KOSPI companies with the largest market capitalization, have led the way for Korean stocks over the past eight months.

Samsung Electronics, which ranks first for market capitalization, finished the trading day up by 1.75% (3,500 won) to 203,500 won. The company has experienced a 258.3% rise in its market capitalization since the presidential election on June 3 of last year and a 69.7% rise so far this year.

SK Hynix, which ranks second in market cap, finished the day at 1.018 million won, for a rise of 1.29% (13,000 won). It has seen increases of 390.6% since the 2025 presidential election and 56.4% this year.

Based on the closing prices on Wednesday, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix respectively accounted for 24.1% and 14.5% of total market capitalization on the securities market.

Institutional investors have continued to drive growth. On Wednesday, their net purchases on the securities market amounted to 880.8 billion won, with a total of 12.45 trillion in net purchases so far in February. In contrast, foreign investors showed net sales of 11.87 trillion won over the same period, including 1.28 trillion won on Wednesday. Other corporations had net purchases of 2.1 trillion won during the same timeframe, while individual investors showed net sales of 3 trillion won.

The KOSDAQ finished trading at 1,165.25 points, showing an increase of 0.02% (0.25 points). The index has experienced a 57.4% rise since last June and a 25.9% rise so far this year.

The won-to-dollar exchange rate finished down 13.1 at 1,429.4 on Wednesday due to factors including a weak dollar. This was the first time the rate finished below 1,430 during daily trading since Nov. 3 of last year, when it reached 1,428.8.

By Jeong Nam-ku, staff reporter

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