The South Korean stock market, often characterized by its heavy exposure to artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing, concluded the third quarter as the worst-performing market globally. This downturn represents a sharp shift in investor sentiment, as the market had previously been buoyed by the global AI boom and the high demand for memory chips used in AI infrastructure.

While the Financial Times identifies the market as 'AI-supercharged,' the recent performance suggests that the concentration in these specific tech sectors may have left the index vulnerable to broader market corrections or cooling investor enthusiasm. The report indicates that the volatility associated with AI-linked stocks has weighed heavily on the overall index performance throughout the quarter. Investors who had piled into the market expecting sustained growth from the AI sector have faced significant losses as the momentum stalled. The data highlights a disconnect between the initial high expectations for AI-driven growth and the actual market outcomes observed in the recent three-month period.