Anchor: For the first time in three-and-a-half years, South Korea's KOSPI surpassed the psychologically-significant three-thousand-point mark threshold on Friday. The surge comes on the back of the return of foreign investors, as well as the launch of the Lee Jae Myung-administration, which seeks to revive the economy through various measures including injecting extra budget. 
Our Curtis Carney has the report.

Report: The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) closed above the three-thousand-point mark for the first time in three and a half years.

The KOSPI closed at three-thousand-21-point-84 on Friday, up 44-point-10 points, or one-point-48 percent, from the previous session, despite concerns over military conflicts in the Middle East.

This is the first time the KOSPI has closed above three-thousand since December 28, 2021.

Analysts say the benchmark index is buoyed by investor optimism over the new Lee Jae Myung administration’s economic agenda.

Bolstered by increased global liquidity, the index has continued its upward momentum as markets rally behind Lee's plans to kick start the sluggish economy by injecting a 20-point-two trillion won extra budget.

Semiconductor, IT and battery shares were particularly strong at the bourse Friday. 

Lee during his campaign consistently pledged to transform the nation's capital markets, and double the benchmark KOSPI to go beyond five-thousand points, by tackling the long-standing problem of the “Korea discount."  

As Lee pushes to tackle the problem of Korean assets trading at lower valuations due to geopolitical risks and governance concerns, high global liquidity also boosted the index this week as investors hope uncertainties surrounding U.S. tariff policies will diminish down the road as well.  

As KOSPI extended its winning streak, the tech-heavy KOSDAQ also rode a wave of optimism, closing the week at 791-point-53, up nine-point-02 points, or one-point-15 percent.
Curtis Carney, KBS World Radio News.