South Korean Semiconductor ETFs Show Stark Divergence, Front-End Equipment Funds Rally Up to 24.45% in One Month

According to Korea Exchange, semiconductor supply chain ETFs showed divergent performance over the past month (June 2-July 3), with front-end process equipment funds rallying significantly while back-end focused products declined sharply. HANARO Semiconductor Core Process Leading Stock ETF rose 24.45%, while SOL Semiconductor Front-End Process and UNICORN SK Hynix Value Chain Active gained 18.77% and 10.73% respectively. In contrast, TIGER AI Semiconductor Core Process and KODEX AI Semiconductor Core Equipment fell 13.79% and 13.13% respectively.

The divergence reflected different portfolio exposures: top-performing funds held high weightings in memory front-end equipment makers VM (up 82.62%) and PSK (up 94.35%), while underperforming funds concentrated on back-end and packaging-focused companies such as Hanwha Q Cells (down 20.65%) and ISU PetaSys (down 21.02%).