The Kospi is up 50 per cent in two months and 150 per cent in the past year. I can’t think of another major stock market that had ever risen that fast. And before this glorious summer, the winter was long: Jim Reid of Deutsche Bank notes that in inflation-adjusted terms the Kospi returned to its 1989 high only last September. The run is backed by good economic growth, corporate governance reform and overwhelming exposure to the semiconductor industry — Samsung and SK Hynix account for half the market (Unhedged discussed all three factors back in November).