Part two of two. Korean cosmetics exports grew between 30 and 300 per cent across the major European markets through 2025, and 10.7 million visitors came to Korea in the first half of 2026, 26.9 per cent above the same half of 2019. Neither case is as strong as the American one, and we set out what the growth rates hide and which connection we could not evidence.
Korean cosmetics exports rose 27.3 per cent in the first half of 2026 and the United States held its place as the largest buyer for a second year. NielsenIQ puts 41 per cent of American beauty sales online, which is where K-beauty has done nearly all of its winning. The 59 per cent that still happens in shops is what Olive Young’s Sephora rollout only begins to reach from autumn 2026.
CXMT listed in Shanghai on 27 July 2026 and closed 465.82 per cent above its offer price. Its volume process is where Samsung and SK hynix were in 2019, and on high bandwidth memory it is two generations behind. Korean memory shares had their worst session of the month two weeks before the listing, for reasons that had nothing to do with it.
Valuation reform, an MSCI upgrade and the memory cycle are usually presented as three reasons to own Korea. MSCI declined again in June, governance reform has no measurable outcome yet, and first-half semiconductor exports rose 162.6 per cent against 16 per cent for everything else. That leaves one variable, not three.
Korea deducts 22 per cent from a non-resident’s dividend by default. The treaty rate applies only if a form reaches the withholding agent before payment, and that form lapses after three years. Sourced to the Personal Income Tax Act and the NTS form itself.
SSNLF is widely described as Samsung’s American depositary receipt. OTC Markets classifies it as ordinary shares in its Pink Limited tier, with no bid, no offer and no volume. Here is what trades in London instead, and which Korean companies really are US-listed.
Korea removed its three-decade-old foreign investor registration requirement in December 2023. Much of the English-language guidance still describes the old system. Here is the current position, sourced to Korean regulators.