---
title: "Korea and Taiwan made the year in markets not everyone calls developed"
url: "https://etf.net/news/korea-taiwan-led-year-in-markets-2026-10-28"
published_at: "2026-10-28T15:03:09.044Z"
updated_at: "2026-10-28T15:03:09.044Z"
byline: "ETF.net Research"
---

# Korea and Taiwan made the year in markets not everyone calls developed

The median of 37 developed single-country funds only matched the S&P 500, and the biggest Korea fund is down 22% in price since June 30.

By ETF.net Research. Published Oct 28, 2026.

South Korea and Taiwan made the year in the 37 U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds we group as developed single-country funds. The index providers do not call both of those markets developed.

The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF EWY, the largest at $23.2 billion, returned **70.7%** over the 12 months through Tuesday, Oct. 27, including dividends. The iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF EWT returned 67.5%.

Those two, plus Franklin Templeton's Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF FLKR and Franklin Templeton's Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF FLTW, hold 52.5% of the group's $79 billion.

The median of the 37 returned 13.6%. State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY returned 13.5%, and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF AGG lost 1.2%.

## Who calls Korea and Taiwan developed

Both of the largest funds are iShares MSCI products. EWY tracks an MSCI index of Korean stocks.

[CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/24/msci-south-korea-emerging-market-indonesia-review-extended.html) reported that MSCI's June 23 review kept South Korea classified as an emerging market, with the won's limited convertibility offshore still a barrier. That means foreign investors cannot freely exchange the currency outside Korea.

[FTSE Russell's list of Oct. 6](https://www.lseg.com/content/dam/ftse-russell/en_us/documents/country-classification/ftse-country-classification-update-latest.pdf) classifies South Korea as developed and Taiwan as advanced emerging, not developed. This group includes the Taiwan funds anyway.

FLKR tracks FTSE, which calls the market developed, and charges 0.09% against 0.59% for EWY. It returned 71.4% over those 12 months, and FLTW, at 0.19%, returned 69.6%. The cheaper Korea fund did not have a different year.

## Technology was half of Korea and most of Taiwan

As of Tuesday, iShares reported technology at [51.6%](https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239681/ishares-msci-south-korea-etf) of EWY and [72.9%](https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239686/ishares-msci-taiwan-etf) of EWT.

Huileng Tan wrote in [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/kospi-stock-index-today-taiwan-taiex-index-ai-trade-rally-2026-10) on Oct. 12 that South Korea's rally "was driven largely by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose soaring memory-chip profits made them among the biggest winners of the AI boom."

## Canada rose together. The United Kingdom, Germany and France did not.

The three Canada funds in the group hold $20.4 billion, and all three returned between 21.9% and 22.4% over the same 12 months, including dividends. J.P. Morgan's JPMorgan BetaBuilders Canada ETF BBCA returned 22.4%. The iShares MSCI Canada ETF EWC returned 21.9%, and Franklin Templeton's Franklin FTSE Canada ETF FLCA returned 22.1%.

The iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF EWU returned 13.5% over those months. The iShares MSCI Germany ETF EWG returned 1.4%, and the iShares MSCI France ETF EWQ lost 5.2%.

Chart: Korea and Taiwan funds returned **67% to 71%**; Canada, 22%

## Korea's gain came before June

The 70.7% includes dividends, and it belongs to a holder who owned EWY for the full 12 months. In price, the fund fell 9.5% from June 30 to Sept. 30 and another 13.9% through Tuesday, Oct. 27, when it closed at $157.46.

EWT rose 3.9% in price in the third quarter and fell 5% from Sept. 30 through Tuesday. From the June 30 close it is down 1.3% in price.

Chart: **EWY** fell in both the third quarter and October

A buyer of EWY at the June 30 close is down **22%** in price. Korea's price gain was made before then.

Source: etf.net, https://etf.net/news/korea-taiwan-led-year-in-markets-2026-10-28. Please cite the page URL.