President Lee Jae-myung has publicly refuted recent market analyses claiming that the KOSPI would merely be at the 4100 level if semiconductors were excluded, stating that it is inappropriate to evaluate the stock market while leaving out a core industry.

President Lee made these remarks on the 1st via his social networking service (SNS). He asked in response, "No one says Son Heung-min is an ordinary person if you exclude his football skills. Wouldn't it rather be correct to evaluate that the Korean stock market recorded 4100 even with semiconductors included?" He further pointed out, "Semiconductors are one of the core pillars of our industry. It is difficult to understand why a separate composite stock price index excluding semiconductors needs to be calculated."

These comments are interpreted as a response to recent claims in certain media and market analysis reports that the KOSPI's rise would be limited without the semiconductor effect. Previously, some analysts assessed that the surge in large-cap semiconductor stocks, such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, drove the KOSPI's rise, meaning the index's gains were heavily skewed toward a specific sector. Consequently, an evaluation emerged noting that calculating a hypothetical index excluding semiconductor stocks resulted in a figure around the 4100 level, which is lower than the actual KOSPI.

However, President Lee emphasized that because the semiconductor industry is a core competitiveness representing the Korean economy and stock market, market evaluations excluding it could distort reality.

The debate surrounding the semiconductor sector continues within the market. While some point out that a high dependence on a specific sector could weaken the stock market's underlying strength, others interpret the situation as a reflection of national competitiveness, noting that it is common in global markets for tech stocks to lead major indices. In particular, attention is being drawn to the fact that the influence of the semiconductor sector, centered on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, is growing increasingly significant due to the recent expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and the rising demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

Within the securities industry, it is expected that discussions regarding sector concentration and whether the market's breadth will expand will continue, especially as the KOSPI approaches its all-time high.

[This article was compiled using AI for data organization, and fact-checking and final editing were conducted according to the media outlet's editorial standards.]