Global investors have long valued South Korea at a discount to other markets, citing tensions with North Korea and the tight structure of South Korean conglomerates - and this week's political developments gave them reason to further undervalue the country. For investors, the martial law incident is a reminder of why South Korean stocks and the won have lagged global markets for months. "Long term, the martial law incident will exacerbate the 'Korea discount', which is the higher risk premium for trading South Korean-related assets, stocks, currencies and bonds," said Daniel Tan, a portfolio manager at Grasshopper Asset Management in Singapore. Investors need a higher risk premium to invest in the won and South Korean stocks. (Jin Shi)