Stocks
Why Korean Stocks Can Be Bought from 1 Share — A Market Without Unit Shares 韓国株はなぜ1株から買えるのか — 単元株制度がない市場
If you're used to Japanese stocks, the first thing that might confuse you on the Korean stock trading screen is this. The Korean market doesn't have the concept of unit shares (単元株). You can buy any stock starting from a single share.
In Japan, the trading unit for listed companies was unified to 100 shares in October 2018. For a stock priced at 3,000 yen, you would need at least 300,000 yen. Korea doesn't have this restriction, so you can buy a stock priced at 70,000 won for just 70,000 won.
There are three practical implications:
First, diversification becomes overwhelmingly easier. When trying to diversify into five stocks in the Japanese market, the minimum trading cost alone can run into millions of yen, but with Korean stocks, you can divide the same amount much more finely.
Second, there's no need to look for fractional share services. In Japan, you use unique services offered by brokerages to buy less than 100 shares, and in return, you face restrictions like not having voting rights or being unable to place real-time limit orders. In the Korean stock market, one share is the standard trading unit from the start, so even with just one share, you are a regular shareholder.
Third, the perception of stock price levels changes. In Japan, the unit share system influences the motivation to avoid high-priced stocks, but in Korea, a high stock price doesn't directly translate to difficulty in buying. It's more practical to get accustomed to looking at market capitalization rather than just the stock price level itself.
However, there are points to consider. The ability to buy from one share and the rationality of buying one share are separate matters. Since Korean stock trading fees and currency spreads have components that are not proportional to the transaction amount, extremely small transactions incur a higher cost burden. This is especially true with brokerages that have minimum fee settings.
Another point is that stock splits have been relatively active in Korea. Samsung Electronics, for instance, carried out a significant split in the past, bringing its stock price to a level that individual investors could easily afford. Even in a market without unit shares, splits are still welcomed because the psychological ease of buying impacts actual supply and demand.日本株に慣れていると、韓国株の注文画面で最初に戸惑うのがここです。韓国市場には単元株という概念がありません。どの銘柄でも1株から買えます。
日本では2018年10月に上場企業の売買単位が100株へ統一されました。株価3,000円の銘柄なら最低30万円が必要になります。韓国にはこの縛りがないため、株価が7万ウォンの銘柄は7万ウォン分から買えます。
実務上の意味は三つあります。
一つ目は、分散が圧倒的にやりやすくなることです。日本株で5銘柄に分散しようとすると最低売買代金だけで数百万円になることがありますが、韓国株なら同じ金額でずっと細かく分けられます。
二つ目は、単元未満株サービスを探す必要がないことです。日本では100株未満を買うために証券会社独自のサービスを使い、その代わりに議決権がない、リアルタイム指値ができないといった制約を受けます。韓国株は最初から1株が正規の売買単位なので、1株でも普通の株主です。
三つ目は、株価の水準感が変わることです。日本では値がさ株を避ける動機に単元株制度が効いていますが、韓国では株価が高くても買いにくさに直結しません。株価水準そのものより時価総額で見る癖をつけたほうが実態に合います。
ただし注意点があります。1株から買えることと、1株買うのが合理的であることは別です。韓国株の売買手数料や為替スプレッドには取引金額に比例しない部分があるため、極端な少額取引はコスト負担率が高くなります。最低手数料が設定されている証券会社では特にそうです。
もう一つ、韓国では株式分割が比較的活発に行われてきました。サムスン電子も過去に大幅な分割を実施し、個人投資家が買いやすい株価水準になりました。単元株がない市場でもなお分割が歓迎されるのは、心理的な買いやすさが実際の需給に効くからです。
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