I wish to purchase a stock (NCSoft symbol NCFT) that is listed on the
South Korean Stock Exchange (KOSDAQ).

I wish to purchase about $20,000 worth and the stock is currently at
about 90,000 won.  The exchange rate is about 1160 won to a dollar so
I am looking at about 260 shares.   

How can I buy (and sell) this stock, though it is not listed on the US exchanges?

Greetings.

The procedure for buying stock on the Korean market is a little bit
complicated, especially if you are not a Korean citizen.  However,
there is good information about the topic on the website of the Korean
stock exchange:

http://www.kse.or.kr/webeng/index.jsp

The Korean exchange is run very differently from other worldwide
exchanges, and you will need to understand the process before you can
open an account and begin trading.  The first step you should take is
to click the "How Securities Are Traded On KSE" graphic in the upper
right portion of the page.  Read through all fourteen steps of the
section to get an overview of the system.  The main point of interest
to you as a non-Korean national will be in Section 1:  "Trading
Process:  From account opening to trade confirmation."  The following
is an excerpt from Section 1:

"An investor who intends to trade securities on the KSE market must
open an account with a KSE member securities firm because only KSE
member firms have direct access to the KSE market."

You will only have a limited number of firms that you can deal with if
you want to trade Korean stocks.  Perhaps the easiest and most
comfortable firm to deal with is E*Trade Korea
(http://www.etrade.co.kr/en/index.html).  Their website describes in
detail the process of opening an account and beginning to trade in the
Korean market.  The following links are especially helpful to
understanding the process:

Open An Account (http://www.etrade.co.kr/en/enae/aec_en_open.html)
Investment Procedure (http://www.etrade.co.kr/en/enae/aec_en_investpro.html)

Once you have established your account, you will be able to use
E*Trade's Internet-based Home Trading System (HTS) to track your
stocks and execute trades.

Best of luck with your foreign investments,
rosicrucianpope-ga

SEARCH STRATEGY:
"korean stock exchange"
"home trading system" korean

---

Clarification of Answer by rosicrucianpope-ga on 27 Jun 2004 00:59 PDT

Dear jeffmckay-ga,

Thank you for your kind feedback.  We hope you continue to use Google
Answers in the future.

Sincerely,
rosicrucianpope-ga

This is a very good response to my question.  It also is a very good
introduction to this service, which I will certainly use again.

Would you guys happen to know how to get earnings information for S. Korean
stocks?

I have noticed that EWY, the South Korean ETF, displays a Price/Earnings
ratio of 7.5 on Yahoo. I'd like to know which individual stocks make up
such a low-P/E fund.

Thanks!