'Patriotic buying' erupts at delisting brink — could Hansung, Monami become Korea's GameStop?

Two homegrown companies pushed to the edge of delisting staged a dramatic turnaround in a matter of days — driven not by improved earnings or new business announcements, but by retail investors rallying behind a shared call to "protect these companies."

According to Korea Exchange, stationery maker Monami closed up 25.66 percent at 2,145 won on Friday, extending a 24.69 percent surge from Thursday for two consecutive days of sharp gains. The company's market cap had slipped to 24.8 billion won on Tuesday and 25.9 billion won on Wednesday, putting it squarely in delisting territory after the Kospi's minimum market cap requirement for continued listing rose from 20 billion won ($13.3 million) to 30 billion won this month. Within two days, the market cap rebounded to 40.5 billion won, clearing the threshold by a wide margin.

Seafood company Hansung Enterprise also found its footing. The company, which had faced delisting concerns, saw sentiment reverse after online communities rediscovered that it had quietly sponsored a "Concert for Heroes" supporting Korean War veterans for 25 years. Purchase verification posts for its flagship product "Kraemi" spread in a wave of consumer solidarity, drawing a surge of buying interest. Hansung hit the daily upper limit on Thursday and again on Friday, pushing its market cap above 50 billion won.

The two companies share a common thread: both faced delisting risk, and both became targets of what investors are calling "patriotic buying." Monami in particular saw its image as a "national brand" — cemented during the 2019 "No Japan" movement, when it emerged as a domestic alternative to Japanese stationery — resurface once again. Online communities filled with purchase verification posts alongside messages declaring, "We can't let a homegrown company get kicked off the stock market." A shift was also observed as individual investors who had piled into Hansung began moving their attention to Monami.

The company responded in kind. Monami President Song Jae-hwa issued a handwritten note of gratitude, saying, "Even amid the difficult situation where delisting was a real possibility, your belief in and support for Monami became a strength that nothing can replace." He added, "Thank you for proving that the more than 60 years Monami has walked have not been in vain."

The fact that share prices soared on collective retail buying alone, with no earnings catalyst, has drawn comparisons to the 2021 GameStop episode in the United States. American retail investors coalesced around online communities to drive up the share price of a struggling video game retailer by dozens of times, eventually setting off a standoff with short sellers as the stock climbed to extreme levels.

However, warnings against blind investing are also being raised. Monami swung to an operating loss of 2.3 billion won in 2023, and the deficit has widened for three consecutive years — to 3.8 billion won in 2024 and 5.9 billion won last year — with the company posting a further operating loss of 2.7 billion won in the first quarter of this year. As the school-age population shrinks and its core stationery business faces structural decline, a new cosmetics original design manufacturing venture has yet to show meaningful results.

Meanwhile, financial regulators have been enforcing delisting requirements for stocks trading below 1,000 won since July 1. Under the rules, a stock that trades below 1,000 won for 30 consecutive trading days is designated a managed issue, and if it fails to recover above 1,000 won for 45 consecutive trading days within the following 90 trading days, it becomes subject to final delisting.