흔들리는 증시와 무너지는 도덕성: 대한민국이 마주한 대내외적 위기 > K-wave Trends

The domestic stock market literally had to feel the fear of ‘Black Monday’. A selloff centered on U.S. technology stocks led to a plunge in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, creating a situation where even the pillars of our economy, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, were shaken. The fact that the KOSPI index plummeted nearly 8% and triggered the circuit breaker goes beyond just temporary supply and demand instability, proving how deep the market's doubts about the AI ​​semiconductor cycle have deepened. The rapid rise shown by leading domestic semiconductor stocks so far has confirmed how vulnerable they are in the face of global macroeconomic volatility, and investors' anxiety has reached its peak.

However, the prevailing view in the securities industry is to interpret this market adjustment as temporary ‘growing pains’ rather than a structural collapse. Although controversy over memory demand related to NVIDIA's next-generation platform has emerged, global big tech's investment in AI infrastructure is still ongoing and its essence has not changed. Major experts including NH Investment & Securities predict that if the order backlog and HBM profitability are confirmed through the second quarter performance season, momentum will strengthen again from the third quarter. In particular, large-scale events such as the listing of Space

Meanwhile, in the political world, the news that the Director of General Affairs of the Fatherland Innovation Party was sentenced to a fine in the first trial on charges of assaulting and insulting an aide is causing a stir. This violence, which occurred during a conflict between the Women's Committee, which was investigating cases of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment within the party, and the General Affairs Bureau, which was trying to stop it, clearly demonstrated the moral hazard of a political party that promoted innovation. Criticism inside and outside the party is intensifying as suspicions are raised that he was trying to protect the perpetrator, and this is a case that clearly reveals how the ethical standards that should be maintained in the public sphere have collapsed.

Despite market chaos, the Bank of Korea made personnel changes to strengthen organizational stability and professionalism. Lee Ji-ho, director of the Investigation Bureau, and Kim Je-hyun, director of Personnel Management, were appointed as assistant vice presidents, respectively, and the system was reorganized to respond to changes in the internal and external economic environment. This reflects the Bank of Korea's will to advance economic outlook and increase transparency in monetary policy, and shows the central bank's weight in maintaining its focus in a financial market full of uncertainty. The market is watching their moves to see how people with expertise and practical experience will solve the mid- to long-term tasks of our economy in the future.

The sluggish performance of newly listed stocks such as Piece Piece Studio also clearly demonstrates the weakening investor sentiment our market is currently experiencing. The phenomenon of stock prices, which had been expected to greatly exceed the public offering price on the first day of listing, drop sharply and fall below the public offering price, reflects the anxiety of individual investors who are swayed by market volatility rather than the intrinsic value of the company. Seohak ants are showing signs of returning to the domestic stock market by net selling a large number of U.S. stocks, but the direction of the market is still unclear. Ultimately, we are at a point where investors need a prudent approach to cool-headedly judge a company's actual profitability and global competitiveness, rather than making short-term profits.