"It's been stuck for 27 years."
At KT's regular shareholders meeting on the 31st, the pent-up frustration of long-term shareholders burst out. A woman in her 60s who introduced herself as a shareholder who bought KT shares in the 180,000-won range during the dot-com bubble (late 1990s to early 2000s, a period when stock prices of internet companies were in a speculative bubble due to excessive expectations) in 1999 appealed to KT board chair Kim Young-shub, saying she had not sold and continued to hold the shares but was frustrated because the stock price had not risen.
On the 3rd, a simple comparison by ChosunBiz assuming purchases at the peak prices of the three telecom companies during the dot-com bubble showed that SK Telecom was the only stock to actually surpass its previous peak. In contrast, KT and LG Uplus affiliates still showed a large gap from their peaks back then.
SK Telecom hit an all-time high of 4.81 million won on Mar. 6, 2000. Reflecting 10-for-1 and 5-for-1 stock splits since then, the peak converts to 87,475 won on today's basis. SK Telecom's share price rose to 88,600 won on Feb. 13, surpassing that level. On a peak-entry basis, it briefly entered a gain zone of about 1.3%. Of course, the current price (closing on the 3rd) is 80,900 won, about a 7.52% loss from the peak.
KT's situation was different. KT's all-time high was 199,000 won in 1999. Compared with the current price (closing on the 3rd) of 59,700 won, a shareholder who bought at the peak is still down about 70.2%. After falling below 100,000 won on Feb. 2000, KT's share price has never regained the 100,000-won level.
LG Uplus's long-term returns were even weaker. LG Uplus is the telecom company launched in Jan. 2010 when LG Telecom absorbed and merged LG Dacom and LG Powercom. The disclosed merger ratio at the time was LG Telecom 1 to LG Dacom 2.14 to LG Powercom 0.74. In other words, 1 share of LG Telecom became 1 share of LG Uplus, 1 share of LG Dacom became 2.14 shares of LG Uplus, and 1 share of LG Powercom became 0.74 share.
Among the three, the only company listed during the dot-com bubble was LG Dacom. In 2000, LG Dacom's peak price was 601,000 won. LG Uplus's current price (closing on the 3rd) is 15,340 won. Assuming 1 share was bought then and held to now, the current holding value drops to 32,827 won (15,340 won × 2.14 shares). The loss rate is about 94.54%. For LG Telecom, the predecessor of LG Uplus and unlisted at the time, considering that its over-the-counter peak formed around 150,000 won, a simple comparison with the current price (15,340 won) yields a loss rate of about 89.7%.
In the end, even if one bought telecom stocks at the dot-com bubble peak, the report card diverged greatly afterward. On a roughly 30-year holding basis, only SK Telecom barely surpassed its previous peak, while KT and LG Uplus shareholders are still bearing large paper losses. This comparison simply looks at share price moves and excludes dividends received during the holding period.
This comparison brings back the market adage that in long-term investing you should look to the No. 1 stock in the sector. Even if an industry once shared the same expectations, over time fundamental strength—such as subscriber market share, cash flow, brand competitiveness, and investment capacity—separates returns. This gap is even clearer in sectors like telecom, where regulation and capital expenditures are heavy. The fact that the three telecom stocks that started from the dot-com bubble peak ended up with different outcomes after nearly 30 years can be seen as reflecting these structural differences.
Yoon Yeo-sam, head of investment strategy at Meritz Securities, said, "Ultimately, the market adage that you should buy the industry leader is confirmed even in the long-term returns of the three telecom companies," adding, "Given how stark the share price gap between Samsung Electronics and telecom companies has been over 30 years, it is important to invest in the industry leader, but it is even more important to judge well which industries will be promising in the future."