Foreign investors recorded net sales of nearly 50 trillion won in Korean stocks in June, reaching a historic high, but their holdings simultaneously rose to a record level.

(1) According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea, as of June 2026, foreign investors recorded a net sale of 49.336 trillion won in Korean listed stocks, marking six consecutive months of net selling and breaking the previous historical record of 47.019 trillion won set in May. Among them, the main board KOSPI saw a net sale of 50.979 trillion won, while the startup board KOSDAQ saw a net purchase of 1.643 trillion won.(2) From January to June this year, foreign investors have cumulatively net sold 116.3563 trillion won, surpassing the total net sales for the whole of last year (11.768 trillion won) by more than 10 times, indicating an unprecedented scale of capital exit.(3) Despite heavy sell-offs, the balance of listed stocks held by foreign investors still reached 2,908.639 trillion won by the end of June, an increase of 56.3 trillion won compared to the previous month, with their shareholding ratio accounting for 36.4% of the market value. Both figures set new historical highs. Analysts believe that while foreign investors aggressively sold shares to realize profits, the substantial increase in market prices of their major holdings led to the rise in both the stock holding balance and the shareholding ratio.