The South Korean national flag lit up Manhattan at night... SK hynix rattled Nasdaq the next day

[Financial News, New York = Reporter Lee Byung-chul]Around 9 p.m. local time on the 9th, in Midtown Manhattan, New York.
As I walked along Park Avenue, the South Korean national flag suddenly appeared on the LED display atop a building that defines the New York skyline. The red and blue taegeuk pattern spread across all four sides of the building, while the "SK hynix" logo lit up in alternating sequences below.
It was a night with low-hanging clouds. Light from the top of the building reflected off the clouds, making the South Korean national flag and the SK hynix logo visible from almost anywhere in Manhattan. In the middle of a New York nightscape usually dominated by global financial firms and luxury brands, the name of a Korean company had taken center stage.
On Park Avenue, where cars kept streaming home from work, drivers and pedestrians stopped briefly to take out their phones and snap photos. Many tourists also looked up at the billboard, as if seeing the company name "SK hynix" for the first time.


And then, one day later, on the morning of the 10th.
Reporters and officials began gathering one by one from early morning at Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, New York. A "SK hynix" installation stood in front of the venue, and employees were busy taking commemorative photos to celebrate the listing. The screens kept playing the SK hynix logo and congratulatory videos without pause.
Inside the venue, Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, Kwak Noh-jung, CEO of SK hynix, and other executives took the stage. When the countdown began, attendees pressed the button together, and as the opening bell rang, red and orange confetti poured through the venue amid applause. It was the moment SK hynix's first U.S. stock trading officially began on Nasdaq, the world's largest market for technology stocks.
The atmosphere continued even after the event ended. Chey greeted requests for autographs from citizens who had come to the venue, while employees kept taking commemorative photos in front of Times Square and Nasdaq MarketSite. Some staff members posed for group photos in front of the listing display, and every time their company logo appeared on the screens, they kept filming with their phones.
Tourists passing through Times Square also naturally looked up at the billboards showing SK hynix advertisements. Around the Nasdaq venue, foreign visitors could be seen asking, "What company is this?" or asking event staff why the listing was taking place. Reflecting the surge of interest in semiconductor companies driven by the AI boom, the atmosphere on site was hotter than ever.
This Nasdaq listing was more than just one Korean company making its debut on the U.S. stock market. In the heart of New York, the center of global capital markets, it became a stage for SK hynix to showcase its presence as a key memory chip company in the AI era.
The South Korean national flag that lit up Manhattan on the night of the 9th, and the Nasdaq opening bell on the morning of the 10th. In just one day, New York saw back-to-back scenes symbolizing a new milestone for Korea's semiconductor industry.



pride@fnnews.com Reporter Lee Byung-chul Reporter