Korea's forgotten fortune: $1.1 bil. in shares left unclaimed

The Korea Securities Depository held 800.84 million unclaimed shares worth 1.47 trillion won as of the end of August. The holdings belonged to 26,280 shareholders, who may have missed rights offerings, bonus shares or stock dividends after failing to receive notifications. The value of unclaimed shares rose 26.4 billion won from the end of last year. Rep. Han Min-soo called for broader outreach, including text-message notices.

The number of shareholders with unclaimed shares rose from 25,349 at the end of last year to 26,280 in August, including 22,526 individuals and 3,754 companies.

The largest individual holding was 644,247 shares valued at 70.67 billion won, while the largest corporate holding was 42.23 million shares worth 211.14 billion won.

Over the past five years, the KSD returned shares worth 278.3 billion won to their rightful owners through its annual search campaign.

In 2025, the KSD sent notices to 9,492 shareholders, fewer than half of the 25,349 shareholders who had unclaimed shares at year-end.

The KSD verifies current shareholder addresses through the Ministry of the Interior and Safety before mailing notices.

Published Oct 8, 2026 2:18 pm KST

Nearly 1.5 trillion won ($1.1 billion) worth of shares held by the Korea Securities Depository (KSD) remain unclaimed by some 26,000 shareholders, data showed Thursday.

According to data released by Rep. Han Min-soo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the KSD held 800.84 million unclaimed shares worth a combined 1.47 trillion won as of the end of August.

Unclaimed shares typically arise when shareholders fail to claim shares issued through rights offerings, bonus issues or stock dividends.

Shareholders may be unaware of the newly issued shares or miss notifications after changing their addresses. In such cases, the shares are held by the KSD or other designated transfer agents until their rightful owners claim them.

The value of unclaimed shares rose by about 26.4 billion won in the first eight months of this year, from 1.44 trillion won at the end of last year, when 763.54 million shares remained unclaimed.

The number of shareholders with unclaimed shares also increased by 931, from 25,349 at the end of last year to 26,280 as of August. The figure included 22,526 individual shareholders and 3,754 corporate shareholders.

The largest unclaimed holding by an individual shareholder stood at 644,247 shares, valued at 70.67 billion won. Among corporate shareholders, the largest unclaimed holding totaled 42.23 million shares, worth 211.14 billion won.

Over the past five years, the KSD has returned a total of 278.3 billion won worth of shares to their rightful owners through its annual campaign to locate shareholders with unclaimed shares, according to the data.

As part of the campaign, the KSD mails notices to shareholders at their current addresses, which it verifies through the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

In 2025, however, notices were sent to only 9,492 shareholders, fewer than half of the 25,349 shareholders with unclaimed shares as of year-end.

Han called for more proactive outreach efforts, including text message notifications sent in cooperation with the country's three major mobile carriers.

"We need to review whether the current notification methods and claim procedures are adequate," Han said.

截至8月底，韩国证券存管局持有8.0084亿股无人认领股票，价值1.47万亿韩元。这些股票属于26280名股东，他们可能由于未收到通知而错过了配股、红股或股票分红。无人认领股票的价值较去年年底增加了264亿韩元。韩国众议员韩敏洙呼吁扩大通知范围，包括发送短信通知。

截至去年年底，拥有无人认领股份的股东人数为 25,349 人，到 8 月份增至 26,280 人，其中包括 22,526 名个人和 3,754 家公司。

最大的个人持股量为 644,247 股，价值 706.7 亿韩元；最大的公司持股量为 4223 万股，价值 2111.4 亿韩元。

过去五年，韩国证券交易委员会通过年度搜寻活动，将价值 2783 亿韩元的股票归还给了其合法所有者。

2025 年，韩国证券交易委员会 (KSD) 向 9,492 名股东发出通知，不到年底 25,349 名无人认领股份股东的一半。

KSD在邮寄通知前，会通过内政安全部核实现有股东地址。

发布于2026年10月8日下午2:18（韩国标准时间）

周四公布的数据显示，韩国证券存管处（KSD​​）持有的价值近 1.5 万亿韩元（11 亿美元）的股票仍无人认领，约有 26,000 名股东未认领。

根据韩国执政党共同民主党议员韩民洙公布的数据，截至8月底，韩国证券存管局持有8.0084亿股无人认领的股票，总价值达1.47万亿韩元。

无人认领股份通常指股东未能认领通过配股、红股或股票股息发行的股份。

股东可能对新发行的股份毫不知情，或者在更改地址后错过通知。在这种情况下，股份将由KSD或其他指定的过户代理机构保管，直至合法所有者认领为止。

今年前八个月，无人认领股票的价值增加了​​约 264 亿韩元，而去年年底无人认领股票的价值为 1.44 万亿韩元，当时有 7.6354 亿股无人认领。

无人认领股份的股东人数也增加了931人，从去年年底的25349人增至8月份的26280人。该数字包括22526名个人股东和3754名公司股东。

个人股东无人认领的最大持股量为644,247股，价值706.7亿韩元。公司股东无人认领的最大持股量为4223万股，价值2111.4亿韩元。

数据显示，过去五年，韩国股份公司通过每年开展寻找无人认领股份股东的活动，已将总价值 2783 亿韩元的股份归还给了合法所有者。

作为该活动的一部分，KSD 会将通知邮寄给股东到他们目前的地址，并通过内政安全部核实这些地址。

然而，2025 年，仅向 9,492 名股东发送了通知，不到截至年底 25,349 名无人认领股份的股东的一半。

韩呼吁采取更积极主动的宣传措施，包括与该国三大移动运营商合作发送短信通知。

韩表示：“我们需要审查目前的通知方式和索赔程序是否足够完善。”