South Korea’s benchmark Kospi closed at 2,533.99 on Friday, making a dramatic growth from 280 on June 16, 1998.

For nearly two decades, the Korean stock market fluctuated with major political and economic events. 


The 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis hit the nation‘s economy hard, dragging the Kospi to 280 points. The stock market again took subsequent hits when the dot com bubble bust in the early 2000s and with the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Despite the negative cases coming in and out of the country, the Kospi grew rapidly, buoyed by a raise in the nation’s sovereign credit rating in 2005 and a free trade deal with the US in the following year.

On the back of booming stock markets from the US and rising oil prices, the Kospi has recently broken new records. The rallying stock markets are signs of investors gaining confidence in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, experts say.