The Last Place You’d Look for Value Stocks
South Korea is caught between two trade wars and its northern neighbor is firing missiles. Bold investors can start hunting through the wreckage.
Trouble at home?
Photographer: STR/AFPIf Hong Kong is worried about the economic fallout of political unrest, the city needs only to look at Seoul for a cautionary tale.
Like the former British colony, export-oriented South Korea is caught in the crossfire of the U.S.-China trade war. More than 3% of its GDP comes from goods exported to China, which get assembled, repackaged and re-sold to the U.S. To make matters worse, South Korea is now embroiled in its own spat with Japan, after the Abe administration curbed shipments of key materials to make electronics. Some suspect the measure has a whiff of political retaliation for historical grievances, though Tokyo has denied this.