how does the korea stock exchange work 
in 2021 the krx listed 2 448 companies with a combined market capitalization market cap of 2 6 trillion 3 normal trading sessions look the same as those of other major stock markets around the world trading opens at 9 00 a m and closes at 3 30 p m the market is open every day of the week except saturday sunday and holidays of which there are 11 in 2021 as with the s p 500 in the united states an index the korea composite stock price index kospi tracks the health of the exchange the korea composite stock price index kospi the kopsi contains all of the common stocks that are traded on the exchange the kospi was introduced in 1983 with a base value of 100 and in may 2021 the index trades at around 3 188 4 as with other major indexes kopsi is calculated based on market cap and boasts daily trading volume in excess of multiple hundreds of million shares several offshoots of the index track specific sectors factor strategies and market caps the kospi 200 index for example consists of 200 large companies in the stock market division as of 2021 among the biggest holdings in the kopsi include tech giant samsung electronics automotive maker hyundai motor and lg chemical 5korea stock exchange trading considerationsthe easiest way to invest in south korea is with exchange traded funds that provide instant diversification in a single security traded on a u s stock exchange three key etfs track the south korean market in addition to the ishares msci south korea etf ewy are the korea kospi 200 etf hkor and the franklin ftse south korea etf flkr this targeted access to korean stocks extends to large and mid sized companies benefits of investing in south koreawith its rare combination of stability and rapid growth rates south korea s economy is attractive for international investors risks of investing in south koreahowever there are also many risks that investors should consider before committing capital to the region for example three of korea s largest industry sectors automakers financial services and technology could potentially experience setbacks that in turn would lead to market volatility 