[THE INVESTOR] The total market capitalization of firms on the KOSDAQ, South Korea’s tech-heavy secondary bourse, has increased 27-fold and daily transactions by nearly 1,500 times since its launch on July 1, 1996, data showed on June 30.

According to Korea Exchange, the market capitalization of firms on the KOSDAQ stood at 206 trillion won ($179 billion) on June 30. In comparison, the figure stood at 7.6 trillion won in its early days. 


The value of daily trading has also soared over the years, going from 2.3 billion won to 3.4 trillion won this year. On April 22, 2015, daily trading volume came in at a record high of 7.4 trillion won.

The number of companies listed on the market has risen to 1,168 as of June 29.

KOSDAQ saw rapid growth in the 1990s buoyed by the IT boom, and reached 2,834.4 points on March 10, 2000. However, with the bubble bursting KOSDAQ nosedived to 525.8 points by the end of that year, and fell to a record low of 261.2 in 2008.

Recovery was slow, and remains in the upper 600s today.

Over the past 20 years, the heavyweights on KOSDAQ have also changed - from machine parts and other manufacturing companies to biotechnology, entertainment and IT companies.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)