KODEX MSCI Korea TR (278540) 🔎 In-depth

The benchmark index is the MSCI Korea TR (Total Return) index. MSCI selects Korean large- and mid-cap stocks that foreign investors can actually access to build the index; it holds fewer names than the KOSPI 200, but with its large-cap focus it still represents a substantial part of the market. Because it uses the 'TR' method, dividends paid by the holdings are treated as reinvested into the index as they occur, so it tracks the total return that combines both price changes and dividends, not price moves alone. The benchmark index closed at 4,876.52.

It moves much like the Korean large-cap market as a whole, but with a large weighting in big semiconductor names it is especially sensitive to their swings. On July 13, 2026 it closed at ₩38,625, down a sharp -9.62% on the day. That day SK Hynix fell by double digits and other large semiconductor stocks were badly shaken, dragging the whole KOSPI down about -7% and pushing the index below the 7,000 level. Given this ETF's heavy weighting in mega-cap semiconductor stocks, its decline was even larger than the market average. For context, this sharp drop was in the nature of a correction following the strong semiconductor-led rally of the first half of 2026, reportedly driven by a combination of profit-taking and a reset of earnings expectations. As a domestic equity product it carries no currency effect.

This is a core (central-holding) product used when you want to invest in the whole market at once by holding Korea's leading large caps together, rather than a single stock. Its strengths are that it lets you diversify without the burden of picking individual stocks, and because it uses the TR method dividends are automatically reinvested, so over a long holding period the dividends compound as well. On the other hand, because the weighting in mega-cap semiconductor stocks is large, its performance is heavily tied to the semiconductor cycle rather than being fully diversified, and by the same token, when semiconductors are shaken the index can swing sharply along with them, which warrants caution. Also, since the TR type pays no distributions, it differs in character from products suited to those who want regular cash flow.

Through the first half of 2026, the Korean market showed a strong, semiconductor-led rally, and the KOSPI briefly crossed the 7,000 mark for the first time in early July. However, in mid-July a large correction set in as a reset of earnings expectations for big semiconductor stocks coincided with profit-taking. With its high weighting in large-cap and semiconductor names, this ETF reflected both the rally and the correction a bit more strongly than the market.

In a word, this is an ETF that holds Korea's leading large caps such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as a whole and rides the entire market. Dividends are not paid out but rolled over inside the fund (TR), and with a large weighting in big semiconductor stocks, it tends to swing sharply along with them when they move.