Korea's electronically registered securities top 10,000 trillion won for first time, up 2.3-fold in 7 years

The total value of electronically registered securities managed by the Korea Securities Depository has surpassed 10,000 trillion won for the first time, more than doubling in under seven years since the country's electronic securities regime took effect. Ten thousand trillion won equals 10,000 times 1 trillion won.

As of the end of April, electronically registered assets stood at 11,065 trillion won, the depository said Thursday. By asset class, shares accounted for the largest portion at 6,622 trillion won, followed by bonds at 2,854 trillion won, collective investment securities at 1,288 trillion won, derivative-linked securities at 168 trillion won and short-term financial investment products at 133 trillion won.

Electronically registered assets cover the vast majority of securities defined under the Capital Markets Act and serve as a broad aggregate indicator for gauging the scale and quantitative growth of South Korea's capital markets.

When the Electronic Securities Act took effect in September 2019, total electronically registered assets stood at 4,780 trillion won. By the end of April this year, that figure had grown to 11,065 trillion won — 2.3 times the level recorded at the regime's launch.

The recent increase in electronically registered assets reflects a rise in the market value of listed securities. The depository said government policy aimed at realizing a Korea premium — including amendments to the Commercial Act — along with a favorable external environment driven by a semiconductor supercycle had contributed to the appreciation of listed securities.

"Surpassing 10,000 trillion won in electronically registered assets is one of the historic moments proving the re-rating of South Korea's capital markets," Korea Securities Depository President Lee Yun-su said. "The depository is not simply a place that holds and manages securities — it is a key player on the front lines supporting government policy to realize the Korea premium, and we will continue to fulfill that role faithfully."

The Korea Securities Depository was established in 1974 as the country's dedicated securities depository and settlement institution, and has since underpinned the domestic capital market's securities custody and settlement infrastructure. After the electronic securities regime took effect in September 2019, its role expanded to managing the issuance, distribution and exercise of rights for securities entirely through electronic registration, without physical certificates. The crossing of the 10,000 trillion won threshold marks a milestone in the broader shift from a paper-certificate-based market infrastructure to one grounded in electronic registration.