[비즈한국] After the stock market opened on the 14th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s thematic stocks immediately hit the daily lower limit. At 9:10 AM, Jinyang Chemical051630, considered one of Mayor Oh’s thematic stocks, was trading at 3,000 won, down 29.99% from the previous closing price, hitting the lower limit. Jinyang Holdings003780 and Jinyang Poly010640 also fell by over 20%. The disappointment following Mayor Oh’s announcement on the 12th that he would not run for president was fully reflected in the prices.
On the other hand, Sangji Construction023770 continued its sharp upward trend. After recording the daily upper limit for six consecutive trading days until the 9th, its trading was suspended on the 10th. However, as soon as trading resumed on the 11th, it shot straight to the upper limit, and after the market opened on the 14th, it surged by over 20%, continuing to trade in the 24,000 won range. Considering that it was trading at 3,020 won on April 1st, three days before the impeachment, it has risen nearly eightfold. Sangji Construction was suddenly added as an 'Lee Jae-myung thematic stock' following reports that former outside director Im Mu-young had joined the former leader's campaign.
The day with the most extreme volatility was the 4th, the day of the impeachment verdict. The fortunes of former President Yoon Suk-yeol's thematic stocks (NE Neungyule053290, Seoyeon) and former leader Lee Jae-myung’s thematic stocks (Sangji Construction, Dongshin Construction, etc.) diverged. Until just before the verdict, stocks that were repeatedly fluctuating between -10% and +20% saw the former hit the lower limit and the latter experience an instantaneous surge immediately after the ruling.
Since then, other thematic stocks associated with former leader Lee Jae-myung have also been on the rise. Another thematic stock, Hyungji Elite, entered a downward trend after hitting a high of 3,600 won on the 2nd, but it has still risen by about 10% this month alone. Hyungji Elite became associated with Lee Jae-myung because of his implementation of a free school uniform policy during his time as Mayor of Seongnam.
As the country enters an early presidential election phase, political thematic stocks are also gyrating. Stock prices are repeating sharp ups and downs based on the movements and news of politicians. While opinion polls suggest a solo lead for former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, candidates from the conservative camp appear to be reacting sensitively to every piece of 'news.' Pyeonghwa Holdings, a thematic stock for former Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo—who recently received high approval ratings from the conservative camp in polls—was trading at around 12,000 won on the morning of the 14th. Given that it had fallen to the 3,400 won range at the beginning of February, it has risen more than threefold in two months.
Pyeonghwa Holdings was categorized as a thematic stock because Chairman Kim Jong-seok shares the same Gyeongju Kim clan as the former minister. Additionally, the fact that its subsidiary, PNDT, has a factory in Yeongcheon, Gyeongbuk, the former minister's hometown, is also cited as a reason for its inclusion.
However, there is significant concern in the market. In particular, as 'thematic stocks' become a trend, there is criticism that financial authorities are 'standing by.' An investment industry official pointed out, "In the early 2010s, thematic stocks were created based on actual connections where only one or two listed companies were tied to a leading candidate. The recent trend is for groups who benefited from that process to 'forcefully' create stories to manipulate thematic stocks."
The Korea Exchange plans to hold emergency market inspection meetings starting this month regarding the impeachment verdict of former President Yoon, with the intent to strengthen monitoring of unfair trading and proactive prevention activities for thematic stocks. However, the industry points out that authorities 'cannot keep up with the manipulation syndicates.' These groups buy up shares of listed companies in advance, leak news about them being thematic stocks to the media to create a 'surge,' and then realize profits; in this process, even the listed companies themselves are often unaware. This is why some argue that the financial authorities' 'lax supervision' is further proliferating these thematic stocks.
An employee at a listed company considered a representative thematic stock for a leading politician expressed concern, saying, "I was truly shocked to see our company become a thematic stock just because an executive who worked here briefly more than five years ago had worked with a prominent politician in the past. Looking at the fact that the stock price, which wasn't even 1,000 won, is still trading at more than triple that price, it seems the company's actual value is not being considered at all."