Foreign investors have been selling South Korean equities at an exceptional pace, according to fresh data shared by The Kobeissi Letter. Over the past month, overseas investors were net sellers on every trading day, pushing their year-to-date net sales in the market to $75 billion.
Daily selling streak extends as another $801 million exits KOSPI
Data posted on X by The Kobeissi Letter on July 8 showed that foreign investors sold another $801 million worth of KOSPI-listed shares in a single day. That came after South Korea’s stock market had already seen $10 billion in outflows during the previous week, showing how persistent the selling pressure has become.
Goldman Sachs data, cited in the source material, points to the same trend. On that measure, cumulative foreign net selling in South Korean stocks has climbed to $75 billion so far this year, marking an unusually large withdrawal of overseas capital.
Local investors absorb most of the selling with $69 billion in purchases
Domestic money has moved the other way. The figures show that South Korean retail and institutional investors bought a combined $69 billion over the same period, absorbing most of the shares sold by foreign investors.
The sharp split between offshore sellers and local buyers has become a major topic across Wall Street and broader financial circles. The source notes that with global AI chip supply chains and semiconductor stocks seeing turbulence near elevated levels, markets are watching whether foreign investors are reacting early to broader macro risk or whether domestic buyers can keep supporting the market.
For now, the data shows a rare standoff in South Korean equities: sustained foreign selling on one side and aggressive domestic buying on the other, both on a very large scale.