Two South Korean companies with little new to offer investors have become the center of a sudden retail trading surge, drawing comparisons with the GameStop frenzy that shook the U.S. stock market in 2021.
Monami, one of South Korea’s best-known stationery companies, and Hansung Enterprise, a seafood producer known for its Crami imitation crab products, were both approaching levels that raised concerns about their ability to remain listed on the country’s main stock exchange.
Neither company announced an earnings turnaround or a major new business. Their shares rose because individual investors began buying them in large numbers after online campaigns portrayed the companies as domestic brands worth protecting.
Monami shares jumped 24.69% on July 9 and another 25.66% the following day, closing at about $1.40. The rally lifted the company’s market value from as low as $16 million earlier in the week to roughly $27 million.
The surge came after the minimum market capitalization required to remain listed on South Korea’s Kospi market was raised from about $13 million to $19 million. Monami’s market value had fallen below the new threshold before retail investors pushed it back above the line.
The company’s appeal was rooted in an image that had formed years earlier. During South Korea’s 2019 boycott of Japanese consumer goods, Monami pens gained attention as domestic alternatives to Japanese stationery. That episode helped turn the company into a familiar symbol of locally made products.
As its market value approached the new listing threshold, online investors revived that image. Posts urging people not to allow a longstanding domestic company to disappear from the stock market were followed by screenshots showing stock purchases.
Hansung Enterprise attracted support for a different reason. The company had quietly sponsored concerts honoring Korean War veterans for 25 years, a record that resurfaced online as concerns about its listing status grew.
Consumers began buying Crami and other Hansung products and posting proof of their purchases. The campaign then spread to the company’s shares.
Hansung reached South Korea’s daily price limit on July 9 and again on July 10. The rally pushed its market capitalization above $33 million and moved the company away from immediate delisting concerns.
The buying reflected a South Korean phenomenon sometimes described as donjjul, in which consumers deliberately spend money to reward a company or business they believe has acted responsibly. In this case, that support moved beyond retail products and into the stock market.
The rallies have been compared with GameStop because both were driven by individual investors organizing through online communities rather than by sudden improvements in company performance.
The similarities, however, are limited. GameStop became a confrontation between retail traders and hedge funds that had taken large short positions in the U.S. videogame retailer. Monami and Hansung were not at the center of a comparable short-selling battle.
The South Korean investors were instead trying to keep two familiar domestic companies from falling below newly strengthened listing standards. Their purchases lifted both companies’ market values and eased immediate concerns about possible delisting.
The rallies have also raised warnings about investing on sentiment alone.
Monami has posted operating losses for three consecutive years. Its operating loss widened from about $1.5 million in 2023 to $2.5 million in 2024 and $4 million last year. The company recorded another operating loss of about $1.8 million in the first quarter.
Its main stationery business is under pressure as South Korea’s school-age population declines, while its newer cosmetics manufacturing business has yet to produce clear results.
South Korea has also introduced a separate delisting rule for companies whose share prices remain below $1. A stock that stays under that level for 30 consecutive trading days can be placed under special supervision. It can later become subject to final delisting procedures if it fails to recover for the required period.
For now, retail investors have given Monami and Hansung more distance from the thresholds that threatened their listings. Whether the buying can last without stronger business results remains uncertain.
