, Columnist
Two Big Winners From China's Big Slowdown
South Korea and Philippines show not all emerging markets are the same.
Not all emerging markets are made the same.
Photographer: NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
How panicked were investors last week about China's stock market plunge? Enough to treat the Korean peninsula, a place that was teetering on the brink of war, as a safe haven. Even as policy makers braced for renewed military confrontation between North and South Korea, the won staged a rally.
That's made South Korean assets one of the few bright spots in a dark time for emerging markets. On Aug. 24 alone, investors yanked $2.7 trillion out of developing nations, with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand especially hard hit. It matched the violent September 2008 selloff after Lehman Brothers collapsed.