Ahead of the annual summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), shares of domestic defense corporations were strong in early trading on the 6th.
As of 9:26 a.m. that day on the KOSPI, Hanwha Systems was trading at 84,300 won, up 8,800 won (11.66%) from the previous session.
MNC Solution also rose 3,250 won (11.86%) to 30,650 won, and TIME Technical Support was up 300 won (8.82%) at 3,700 won in transaction.
At the same time, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) (4.85%), LIG Defense&Aerospace (4.13%), and Hanwha Aerospace (2.38%) were also rising across the board.
The reason domestic defense stocks are broadly strong in early trading is seen as the market reflecting expectations for NATO's annual summit to be held in Ankara, Türkiye, for two days starting on the 7th (local time).
This summit will be the first time President Lee Jae-myung takes the stage at NATO. Lee was invited to this summit as part of IP4 ("Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand," four partners in the Indo-Pacific) whose importance NATO has recently emphasized.
The presidential office noted that Lee's attendance at the NATO summit is meaningful in that it will formally push defense cooperation with NATO allies, the largest defense market accounting for 55% of global defense spending.