[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] The stock with the highest return in the domestic stock market this year was related to Kim Gun-hee, the wife of Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party. It outperformed the returns of hair-related stocks that surged after Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, announced a hair loss policy at the beginning of the year.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 21st, Noroo Holdings preferred shares rose 90.70% up to the previous day this year, ranking first in overall stock market returns. Noroo Holdings preferred shares were included in the theme stocks after it was revealed that Noroo Paint, a subsidiary of Noroo Holdings, sponsored Kim Gun-hee, CEO of Kobina Contents and wife of former Prosecutor General Yoon. This stock surged from March last year when Yoon emerged as a presidential candidate, then declined after June, but started rallying again this week. It hit the upper price limit on the 17th and recorded another upper limit on the 19th.
After the 'Kim Gun-hee recording' was aired on MBC's 'Straight' on the 16th, stocks related to Yoon showed a collective rise, with theme stocks associated with Kim receiving particular attention. This year, Woongjin and NE Neungyul, grouped under the same Pyeongyang Yoon clan as candidate Yoon, recorded increases of 11.40% and 18.26%, respectively. Seoyeon (0.8%) and Deoksung (0.65%), grouped as related stocks because they are alumni of Seoul National University with Yoon, remained flat.
The second highest return this year was TS Trillion (83.57%). After candidate Lee promised on the 4th to apply health insurance coverage for hair loss treatment drugs, the stock surged over 100%. Although the major shareholders, including CEO Jang Ki-young of TS Trillion, sold shares during the price surge period causing a temporary pause, the stock later hit the upper price limit again and was designated as an investment caution stock. Since the 14th, the stock has turned bearish, giving back the gains made earlier this year. Nam Gil-nam, a researcher at the Korea Capital Market Institute, advised, "Analyzing 70 political theme stocks during the 16th to 19th presidential elections shows that not only the losing candidates' political theme stocks but also the winning candidates' theme stocks experienced relative price declines immediately after the election day. Individual investors need to pay particular attention to these price characteristics of political theme stocks."
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