The first summit between President Lee Jae-myung and U.S. President Donald Trump has concluded, as the exchange-traded fund (ETF) 'EWY' tracking the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Korea Index shows weak performance.
On the 25th, EWY recorded $72.81 at 3:40 p.m. (local time), down 0.96% ($0.71) from the previous day. EWY is the largest Korea-related ETF listed on the U.S. stock market, frequently utilized by global investors for indirect investment in Korea.
EWY moved in a slight uptrend early in the day but reversed into a downtrend following a post by President Trump on social media platform Truth Social. Trump wrote, "What is happening in Korea? It seems like a purge or a revolution is taking place. In such circumstances, it is impossible to do business in Korea."
President Trump later said at a signing ceremony for an executive order held at the White House, "I have heard that the Korean government has been conducting a very vicious raid on churches over the past few days and has entered our military bases to gather information."
EWY rebounded again during the press conference between President Lee and President Trump following the summit. The two leaders expressed consensus on shipbuilding cooperation and North Korean issues.
In particular, the atmosphere of goodwill continued as President Lee praised President Trump. Lee stated, "It is not easy to improve inter-Korean relations, but the only person who can truly solve this issue is President Trump," adding, "If the President acts as a peacemaker, I will earnestly support him as a pace maker."
While President Trump acknowledged that he could accept some of the requests Korea has regarding tariff matters, he also pressed Korea to buy U.S. weapons and energy.
As the summit concluded mostly without major issues, U.S. bond yields have started to rise again, and concerns regarding the U.S. economy have emerged, leading to greater losses for EWY in line with market trends.