In this article, we explore the 10 Best Korean Stocks to Buy.
South Korean equities suffered their worst single-day loss on record on March 4, according to a Reuters report. Reuters noted that the benchmark KOSPI plunged 12.06%, which is the biggest daily decline in the index’s 46-year history. According to Reuters, the selloff resulted from the escalating US-led attack on Iran. Although the conflict rattled the majority of Asian markets, losses in Korean stocks far outweighed its peers. This, said Reuters, is a reflection of the country’s acute energy vulnerability. However, analysts at Maybank Securities characterized the selloff as a positioning unwind rather than a deterioration in corporate fundamentals. For BNY Mellon economists, South Korea’s dependence on Gulf energy supply is a primary concern.
Yet, the Financial Times’, or FT’s, editorial board is of the opinion that the investment case for Korean stocks has never been more compelling. The FT noted in a March 11 opinion piece that an ambitious reform agenda is reshaping Korea’s equity landscape. For instance, President Lee Jae Myung has moved to dismantle the so-called “Korea discount”, which is a persistent undervaluation rooted in the outsized influence of family-controlled chaebols. To be specific, a law passed last July requires company directors to place all shareholders’ interests first, and in February, an amendment was enacted that mandates the cancellation of newly acquired treasury shares within a year. These governance overhauls, the FT said, have helped power a broader market re-rating, which explains in part why the KOSPI surged 44% year to date before the US-Israel adventure in Iran struck.
That rally convinced Goldman Sachs to raise its year-end 2026 KOSPI target to 7,000 from 6,400 on March 13. Goldman also lifted its 2026 earnings growth forecast to 130%, which is the third upward revision this year. The bank’s chief Asia Pacific equity strategist, Timothy Moe described the recent decline as a correction likely to be followed by a recovery to new highs. According to Moe, Korean stocks have a forward price-to-earnings multiples of just 8.8x, and that the semiconductor sector is operating in an “exceptionally favorable” environment. Beyond chips, the strategist also highlighted Korea’s growing footprint in robotics, nuclear power, defense, and shipbuilding as additional catalysts.
Against this backdrop, this article presents some of the best Korean names investors can latch on for diversification.
Our Methodology
To identify the 10 Best Korean Stocks to Buy, we used financial media sources, including Bloomberg, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as Korea-focused ETFs such as the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY), and the Finviz stock screener to build an initial pool of Korean companies listed in the United States. From this group, we filtered for stocks with an analyst consensus upside potential of more than 20% as of March 16, 2026. We also considered hedge fund sentiment for each stock, using Q4 2025 holdings data from Insider Monkey’s database. The final list is ranked in ascending order based on upside potential.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research shows we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
Best Korean Stocks to Buy
10. Woori Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:WF)
Stock Upside: 26.68%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 8
Woori Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:WF) is one of the best Korean stocks to buy. On March 4, Woori Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:WF) submitted its audited financial statements for fiscal year 2025 to the SEC via a Form 6-K filing. The company said the statements were prepared under the International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted in South Korea, or K-IFRS, and cover consolidated and separate financials.
According to the filing, external auditors issued an unmodified opinion on both the group’s 2025 and 2024 consolidated financial statements. They took the same stance on the company’s internal controls over financial reporting. In other words, the auditors found the financials to be a fair and accurate representation of the company’s position.
In the financial statements, Woori stated that at the group level, total assets surged to KRW 601.5 trillion from KRW 525.8 trillion in 2024. The company explained that the growth was driven by loan growth, an expanded securities portfolio, and the July 2025 consolidation of two newly acquired insurance subsidiaries. Net income came in at KRW 3.23 trillion, which was broadly flat year over year, the statements show. At the same time, credit loss provisions stood at KRW 3.36 trillion as measured under the expected credit loss model.
The statements also show that at the subsidiary level, Woori Bank, the group’s wholly-owned banking arm, saw its net income fall to KRW 2.58 trillion from KRW 3.05 trillion in 2024. The decline was due to rising credit costs and higher expenses weighing down on the income, the firm explained.
Woori Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:WF) is a financial holding company in South Korea. It provides banking, credit card, securities, and asset management services through its subsidiaries. The company generates revenue from deposits, loans, investment products, and financial advisory services.
9. LG Display Co., Ltd. (NYSE:LPL)
Stock Upside: 27.76%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 11
LG Display Co., Ltd. (NYSE:LPL) is one of the best Korean stocks to buy. On February 26, Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) extended its long-term OLED material supply and license agreements with LG Display Co., Ltd. (NYSE:LPL). The announcement builds on a partnership that has now spanned more than two decades.
For LG, this extension ensures a continued and secure supply of Universal Display Corporation’s, or UDC’s, UniversalPHOLED phosphorescent materials and OLED technologies. These are key ingredients in the production of high-performance OLED panels. UDC will deliver the materials and tech through UDC Ireland Limited, its wholly owned subsidiary.
LG and UDC started working together in this partnership way back in the early 2000s, when CRT screens were still the dominant TV technology. Over the course of the relationship, the two companies helped steer the display industry toward OLED. The partnership enabled LG to become one of the world’s leading OLED panel manufacturers.
To be specific, this latest extension builds on an agreement originally signed in 2007. It was renewed in 2021 for a five-year term, which makes the current agreement the beginning of the third cycle. According to LG’s management, the new cycle positions the company to advance its next-generation OLED product roadmap, which spans TVs, monitors, mobile devices, and automotive displays.
LG Display Co., Ltd. (NYSE:LPL) manufactures and sells thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels used in televisions, laptops, monitors, smartphones, and automotive displays. The company’s revenue comes from supplying these panels to global electronics brands, including its affiliate LG Electronics.
8. KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB)
Stock Upside: 28.31%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 21
KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB) is one of the best Korean stocks to buy. On March 6, KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB) filed audit reports for its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kookmin Bank. The reports cover FY2025 and are prepared under K-IFRS and submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC.
KB Financial said in the filing that the reports were audited by Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers. The firm (auditor) issued an unqualified opinion on both the consolidated and separate financial statements for FY2025 and FY2024. In simpler words, the auditor looked at the company’s books and decided the financial records are accurate, complete, and follow all the rules.
According to KB Financial, Kookmin Bank had a strong FY2025 where it posted KRW 3.82 trillion in net profit compared to KRW 3.15 trillion in 2024. This growth was supported by a rise in net interest income to KRW 10.66 trillion and higher fee and commission income, the company said in the filing. It added that total assets expanded to KRW 584.9 trillion from KRW 562.9 trillion in 2024, and that total equity grew to KRW 39.0 trillion.
On the risk side, provisions for credit losses rose to KRW 1.03 trillion from KRW 680 billion in 2024. But despite the spike, Kookmin Bank generated an operating cash inflow of KRW 730 billion. This pushed cash and cash equivalents up to KRW 25.18 trillion by year-end.
At the group level, KB Financial itself reported consolidated net profit of KRW 5.84 trillion, up from KRW 5.03 trillion in 2024.
KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB) is a financial holding company in South Korea. It operates through subsidiaries that provide banking, securities, insurance, and asset management services.
7. SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM)
Stock Upside: 30.11%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 12
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) is one of the best Korean stocks to buy. On March 4, SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with infrastructure giant Schneider Electric and server manufacturer Supermicro. The MOU was signed at this year’s Mobile World Congress, or MWC26, in Barcelona, and it will see the three firms jointly develop a total solution for artificial-intelligence data center (AIDC) deployment.
The core of the deal is a pre-fabricated modular build model. This is where artificial-intelligence computing servers, power systems, and cooling infrastructure are integrated into a single pre-manufactured unit. The model will allow data centers to be assembled in a building-block configuration rather than from scratch, which is how most data centers today are built each time.
This approach, said SK Telecom in a press release, directly targets two of the biggest pain points in AIDC development today. The first one is long construction timelines, and the second is supply chain bottlenecks. These challenges have been a huge drag on the industry’s ability to keep pace with surging artificial-intelligence infrastructure demand, stated SK Telecom.
According to the details of the MOU, SK Telecom will contribute AIDC operational expertise. On their part, Supermicro will supply high-performance, GPU-optimized servers tailored to specific AI workloads and Schneider Electric will handle the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing infrastructure.
SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) is a South Korean telecommunications giant. It provides mobile voice, data, and wireless broadband services, along with enterprise solutions such as cloud, AI, and security platforms. The company also invests in digital businesses including media, e-commerce, and mobility services.
6. Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SHG)
Stock Upside: 30.89%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 22
Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SHG) is one of the best Korean stocks to buy. On March 3, Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SHG) filed audit reports for Shinhan Bank, its wholly-owned banking subsidiary. The reports cover FY2025 and were prepared under K-IFRS. The company detailed in the Form 6-K filing that KPMG Samjong is the auditor on record, and that the auditor gave all statements a clean bill of health.
In the statements, Shinhan Bank posted KRW 3.78 trillion in consolidated net profit for the financial year, and the net interest income came in at KRW 9.17 trillion, compared to KRW 8.84 trillion in FY2024. The growth came on the back of healthy lending activity and improved fee income, noted management. Total assets expanded to KRW 596.97 trillion, which management said were funded largely by customer deposits of KRW 434.32 trillion.
However, the auditors flagged credit loss allowances of KRW 4.28 trillion. They also called out the bank’s level 3 derivatives and derivative-linked securities as key audit areas, given the complex models and unobservable inputs involved. In other words, these areas will require continued scrutiny in future disclosures.
Beyond Shinhan Bank, Shinhan Financial shared that the Group’s consolidated net profit rose to KRW 5.08 trillion from KRW 4.56 trillion in FY2024. It added that basic earnings per share climbed to KRW 9,812 from KRW 8,441.
The company also filed a separate set of audit reports for Shinhan Card, its credit card subsidiary, on the same day.
Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (NYSE:SHG) is a South Korean financial holding company. Its businesses span banking, securities, insurance, and asset management.
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