Hoosik Min of Pine Investment Advisory discussed the value and quality investment opportunity in Korea at Asian Investing Summit 2026. Hoosik also presented four case studies, including Seers Technology (Korea: 458870).
Session summary:
Hoosik Min expects improving ROE across Korean companies as industrial structure and capital-market reforms take hold. The KOSPI rose ~110% from early 2025 to March 2026 (2,400 to 5,052 points). Pine targets businesses with strong cash generation and reinvestment-led growth, run by managements with sound capital allocation, acquired at undervalued or fair prices. Roughly 20-30% of Korean listings recently traded below 1.0x PBR. KOSPI’s ten-year ROE has ranged 6-12%; Hoosik estimates that if ROE reaches 10-15% and OP margin expands to 14-16%, PBR could re-rate from 0.9-1.5x to 1.5-2.5x.
Korea carries real cost-of-equity risks: the North Korean border sits ~50 km from Seoul, chaebol governance opacity in a market just ~2% of global capitalization, and a super-aged demographic with a 0.8 fertility rate. Offsetting factors are accumulating: May 2024 Value-Up guidelines, a July 2025 amendment expanding directors’ duty of loyalty to shareholders, January 2026 treasury-stock disclosure tightening, and pending rules requiring cancellation of treasury stock within one year. Net cash is ~25% of KRX market cap; Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and SK announced Q1 2026 buybacks of KRW 15.7, 13.5, and 5.0 trillion, respectively.
Pharma Research (214450), a medical-devices and cosmetics business, is anchored by the Rejuran brand (PN technology IP) in skin beauty. From 2020 to 2025, sales grew ~36% per year, net profit ~46%, and OP margin ran 30-40%; the stock rose 12x to KRW 403,000 at end-2025. After a recent correction, Hoosik views the shares as priced in a low range versus intrinsic value. Management emphasizes cash profits, has trimmed low-margin channels, and pursued small-scale M&A (Healer, Botox) for diversification. Risks include new entrants, compression of the 40% OP margin, and global-expansion costs.
Samyang Foods (003230), a Korean consumer-goods company, has ridden Buldak Ramen through five years of reinvestment-led growth. From 2021 to 2025, revenues grew ~29% per year, net profit ~42%, and OP margin expanded from 10% to 22%; the stock rose 13x to KRW 1,231,000 at end-2025. Exports moved from 10% of sales in 2015 to 80% in 2025. The Miryang factory (2020-2022) delivered operating leverage; a China facility starts in 2027. Global share is 3-4%. Risks include new competitors, trend durability, and a thin second growth engine.
Leeno Industrials (058470) supplies Pin & Socket components for semiconductor test equipment. Over 2011-2025, sales grew ~13% per year and net profit ~16%; the stock rose 35.8x over 15 years to KRW 60,500 at end-2025. By company estimate, Pin share runs 60-70% globally, with end clients including Apple, Qualcomm, TSMC, and Samsung Electronics. A new factory twice the size of the current one begins operations in 2026, extending capacity from customer-specific R&D to mass production. The principal risk is valuation.
Seers Technology (458870) is Hoosik’s newest case — an early-stage medical-equipment company focused on hospital operational efficiency. Consensus expects sales to grow ~78% per year and net profit ~99% over the next two years, with OP margin near 45% in 2026-2027E. Mobiecare (2020) is an AI arrhythmia diagnostic; ThynC (2024), ~90% of revenue, is a Bluetooth bedside monitoring gateway now expanding into the Middle East. Of Korea’s ~700,000 hospital beds, ~300,000 are addressable; ThynC sits near 10% penetration. Risks include low entry barriers, limited domestic TAM, and overseas software-security validation.
Hoosik frames the thesis as “South Korea Investment Season 2” — Season 1 being Warren Buffett’s 2002-2003 Korean purchases at 3-4x P/E after the IMF bailout. Season 2 centers on creative innovation and differentiated business. Capital-heavy industries are restructuring; shipbuilding, defense, and energy infrastructure have shifted from general-purpose to custom-order output, as HBM and server memory have in semiconductors. Korean brands are converting 20-30 years of cultural accumulation — PSY, BTS, Parasite, Squid Game, Han Kang’s 2024 Nobel — into price premium, with cosmetics exports compounding at a 16% CAGR. Hoosik likens the arc to Japan’s Value-Up program 14 years prior.
Disclaimer
Asian Investing Summit 2026 was held from April 14-21, 2026. The content of this website is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. The content is distributed for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation to sell or buy any security or other investment, or undertake any investment strategy. There are no warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or results obtained from any information set forth on this website. BeyondProxy’s officers, directors, employees, and/or contributing authors may have positions in and may, from time to time, make purchases or sales of the securities or other investments discussed or evaluated herein.
Slides
Let’s take a closer look.
