Korean Stock Codes Explained: From 005930 to ISINs and 0053F0

Samsung Electronics trades in Seoul as 005930, but in Korean exchange records the same share also carries a 12-character ID, KR7005930003, and a seven-character code, A005930. A foreign investor who mixes these up can end up looking at the wrong share, or at no share at all.

The puzzle got harder in 2024. On Jan. 1, 2024, the Korea Exchange (KRX) began giving some new stock codes a letter. TNE Korea, a fuel cell parts maker that listed on the KOSDAQ on Oct. 29, 2026, trades as 0053F0, not as a six-digit number.

Names add a second layer. The same company can appear in English in three or four spellings, depending on whether you read the exchange, the regulator's filing system or the press.

The code is the one thing that stays fixed. Here's what you need to know.

What Is a Korean Stock Code, and How Does It Relate to the ISIN?

A Korean stock code is a short code of six characters, such as 005930, that the KRX issues to every listed share. It is what brokers, trading apps and Korean news use.

Inside exchange systems, the full short code has seven characters. The first is a letter for the product type, "A" for shares and "Q" for exchange-traded notes (ETNs), the KRX explained in a May 24, 2023 notice. Most users drop that first letter, so A005930 becomes the familiar 005930.

The longer code is the ISIN, or International Securities Identification Number. The KRX calls it the "standard code" and says it is a 12-character number given to every security: a two-letter country code, nine characters for the product and one check digit that catches typing errors.

The KRX is Korea's only issuer of these codes and a full member of the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA), the global body for ISIN issuers. Every share in the table below begins with KR7.

The short code and the ISIN share a root. The KRX gives each issuer a five-character code, 00593 for Samsung Electronics. In its records, each common share in the table has a short code made of that issuer code plus a zero, and the same five characters sit inside its ISIN.

Simply put, 005930 is the ticker you type, and KR7005930003 is the ID that settlement systems and fund holdings lists use.

All of the codes, names and dates come from the KRX standard code system, checked on Nov. 8, 2026. The KOSPI is Korea's main board and the KOSDAQ its market for smaller and growth companies; our guide to the KOSPI, the KOSDAQ and the KOSPI 200 explains the difference.

Why Do Some New Korean Stock Codes Contain Letters?

New stock codes can contain a letter because the KRX was running out of numbers. Since Jan. 1, 2024, the fifth character of a new six-character stock code may be a letter from A to Z, except I, O and U.

The KRX gave two reasons in its May 24, 2023 notice. Many users drop the leading "A" or "Q," so stock codes and ETN codes could soon collide once both used the same numbers. And at the pace of new listings, numeric stock codes would run out within two to three years.

The reform split the number range. The first digit of a stock's six-character code now runs from 0 to 4, and an ETN's from 5 to 8. Adding one letter position raises the supply of stock codes from 50,000 to 165,000, enough for 20 to 30 years, the KRX estimated.

The exchange saw no way around it. Because the code has only seven characters, "sooner or later, mixing in letters is unavoidable," the KRX wrote in the notice (translated from Korean).

Codes issued before 2024 did not change. Samsung Electronics is still 005930, and only codes issued from 2024 onward follow the new pattern. The news agency Newsis reported the plan on May 23, 2023.

The new codes are now common. TNE Korea's 0053F0 is one. An exchange-traded fund, the KB RISE Bio TOP10 Active ETF, listed on the KOSPI on Dec. 24, 2024 under 0000Z0.

There is a practical lesson. A spreadsheet that reads codes as numbers turns 005930 into 5930 and cannot handle 0053F0 at all, so store codes as text. The KRX asked brokers and data vendors to use the full code and to accept letters in every position.

How Are Korean Preferred Shares Coded and Named?

A Korean preferred share usually shares the first five characters of its company's common share code and ends in 5, 7, 9 or a letter. Samsung Electronics' preferred share is 005935, Hyundai Motor's second and third preferred shares are 005387 and 005389, and Hanwha's third preferred share is 00088K.

Letters in preferred codes are not new. The KRX said in 2023 that preferred and other class shares already used letters such as K, L and M in the last position, long before the 2024 reform.

Names tell you the type. In KRX English records, "(1P)" marks a first preferred share and "(2PB)" or "(3PB)" a second or third new-type preferred share. On Korean trading screens, the same shares carry the suffix "u," short for usunju, the Korean word for preferred stock, often with a number and a "B."

The "B" matters. Preferred shares issued before a Commercial Act revision in the mid-1990s trade under the company name plus "u," and a "B" marks the new type issued after it, the Asia Economy reported in February 2026.

New-type preferred shares come with a minimum dividend rate set in advance, the Seoul Economic Daily reported in December 2019. Hanwha's third preferred share, for example, paid the larger of 3% of its issue price and 50 won more than the common dividend.

Old-type preferred shares often carry little more than a small extra dividend. One analyst quoted by the Asia Economy compared them to common shares without voting rights. The exact terms sit in each company's articles of incorporation, so check them before comparing two share classes.

How Do Korean Tickers Appear on International Data Feeds?

International data services keep the six-character Korean code and add their own exchange tag after it. Samsung Electronics, for example, appears with its code 005930 followed by a short market tag.

The tags differ by provider, and a tag does not always tell you whether a stock trades on the KOSPI or the KOSDAQ. We could not confirm each provider's rules from its own documentation, so check the provider's help pages and compare the six characters with the KRX code.

The core rule holds across feeds. If the six characters match the KRX short code, you are looking at the Seoul share; a different ticker usually means a different instrument, such as a share listed abroad.

Why Is the Same Korean Company Spelled Differently in English?

The same company is spelled differently because each system stores its own English name and the press romanizes Korean on its own. There is no single official English spelling across the market.

Samsung Electronics shows the gap. English DART, the regulator's filing site, lists it as "SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO,.LTD," while the KRX standard code record says "SamsungElectronics." Hyundai Motor is "HYUNDAI MOTOR CO" on English DART and "HyundaiMotor" at the KRX.

The Korean names differ too. Hyundai Motor's registered Korean name is Hyundai Jadongcha, the Korean word for automobile, and SK hynix's Korean name spells out the letters "SK" in Korean script.

The press adds variants. English DART lists TNE Korea as "TNE Korea Co.,Ltd.," but the Seoul Economic Daily's English market notice for Oct. 29, 2026 read "New listing = T&E Korea (0053F0)." Both names point to the same code.

Simply put, a name tells you roughly who; the code tells you exactly which share.

How Do You Look Up a Korean Stock Code on KRX or DART?

The fastest way is English DART, run by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Its search box asks you to "Enter company name or code," so you can start from either.

1. Search on English DART. Go to englishdart.fss.or.kr, choose "Search by Company" and type a name or a code. A search for 0053F0 returns TNE Korea's filings, including its prospectus and the shareholding reports filed since its listing.
2. Open the profile. Click the company name to see its English and Korean names, "Company Code," market and fiscal month. TNE Korea's profile shows code 0053F0, the KOSDAQ market and an establishment date of Feb. 26, 2014.
3. Check the Korean site. The Korean DART site at dart.fss.or.kr takes a company name or stock code in its main search box.
4. Confirm the ISIN. The KRX standard code system at isin.krx.co.kr searches by Korean name or by at least seven characters of an ISIN. Its detail page shows the ISIN, the full short code, the KRX English name and the listing date.

KIND, the exchange's disclosure system, also lists filings by company. Our guide to reading Korean filings on DART and KIND explains how the two systems divide the work.

Together, the six-character code, the KR7 ISIN and the share-class suffix identify a Korean share more reliably than any English name, and from 2024 those codes can include a letter.