South Korea is solidifying its place as the world's hottest stock market, riding a record-breaking surge in memory chip profits fueled by relentless demand for AI infrastructure.

But as the rally accelerates, veteran economist Ed Yardeni sees a risk: it may all be too easy.

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (NYSE:EWY) has climbed 25% year-to-date through Feb. 3, following an astonishing 87% return in 2025, the best among all global country ETFs.

That performance leaves the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) in the dust, with U.S. equities up just 0.5% this year.

Top-Performing Country ETFs YTD

ETF

2026 Performance

iShares MSCI South Korea ETF

+24.39%

iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (NYSE:EWZ)

+21.03%

iShares MSCI Peru ETF (NYSE:EPU)

+20.80%

iShares MSCI Turkey ETF (NYSE:TUR)

+20.19%

Global X MSCI Colombia ETF (NYSE:COLO)

+18.69%

Data: Countryetftracker.com

Samsung's AI Jackpot: Profit Triples, Shares Soar

In a note shared Tuesday, Yardeni said the artificial intelligence boom has been very good to South Korea's broader economy.

The South Korean rally has been driven by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world's most important suppliers of memory chips essential to Nvidia Corp.’s (NASDAQ:NVDA) AI accelerators and the broader data-center buildout.

Samsung's shares are ...