SK hynix bucked a broader sell-off in artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks, Friday, helping drive a rebound in the benchmark KOSPI after the chipmaker said it had dropped its review of a potential U.S. listing of Solidigm, its NAND flash memory subsidiary. Shares of SK hynix closed at 1,277,000 won ($963.48), up 4.42 percent, while Samsung Electronics rose 0.47 percent to 215,500 won. KOSPI came under pressure after a rout in AI-related stocks on Wall Street overnight. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 6.72 percent, with Nvidia, Micron, SanDisk and Intel among the biggest decliners. Korea's benchmark index tumbled more than 4 percent in morning trading, briefly sinking to the 5,300 level, before staging a sharp rebound and reversing its losses later in the session. It closed at 5,550.30, up 0.3 percent. Net buying by retail and institutional investors helped offset selling by foreign investors, who unloaded nearly 1 trillion won worth of shares on a net basis. Retail and institutional investors bought a net 52 billion won and 872 billion won worth of shares, respectivel

Koramco REITs Management and Trust, established in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis to help Korean companies restructure their real estate holdings, has grown into a leading real estate investment manager with 60 trillion won ($45.3 billion) in assets under management. The company said Friday that it held a ceremony marking its 25th anniversary, as it seeks to expand overseas and strengthen its position in Korea's real estate investment market. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Korean companies faced pressure to sell property assets to shore up their balance sheets, but the country lacked the investors and financial infrastructure needed to absorb large-scale real estate sales. To facilitate the transactions and stabilize the market, the government enacted the Real Estate Investment Company Act in 2001. Koramco was established in October that year as Korea's first real estate investment trust (REIT) asset management company. Since then, Koramco has helped develop Korea's real estate finance market, expanding beyond restructuring-focused REITs into listed REITs, real es