The benchmark KOSPI made a stunning turnaround to close 2025 as the highest-gaining index among major economies, surpassing the 3,000- and 4,000-point milestones after posting its largest increase in 26 years. The index ended the year at 4,214.17 points on Tuesday, down 0.15 percent from the previous session, securing a 75.62 percent gain from the end of 2024. In 2024, it fell 9.63 percent to close at 2,399.49 points. The 75.62 percent gain was the highest among leading global markets, with little chance of being outpaced. As of Monday, Israel’s TA-125 had gained 52.49 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index had risen by 27.79 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 had grown by 26.65 percent, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 from the United States had climbed 22.18 percent and 14.49 percent, respectively. In its own history, KOSPI’s 2025 increase ranks as the third-largest, following the 93 percent surge in 1987 — driven by the so-called “three lows” in oil prices, interest rates and the currency exchange rate — and the 83 percent rise in 1999 during the dot-com bubble. Secondary bourse