“Anyone Without Hynix Right Now Is Guilty”…Chey Tae-won Memes Flood In as Stock Soars

As KOSPI (Korea Composite Stock Price Index) surged to the 9,300 level in early trading and extended its record-setting rally, investors’ enthusiasm for SK hynix is spreading online as a wave of memes, or internet trend content.

On the stock market on the 19th, SK hynix surpassed 2,000 trillion won in market capitalization for the first time and was trading in the 2.8 million won range. As a result, parody images and posts inspired by SK hynix’s astonishing stock rally have flooded major domestic stock communities and social network service (SNS) platforms, drawing widespread attention.

Among investors, memes featuring Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, have become especially popular.

The most eye-catching example is a parody of writer Noh Hee-kyung’s famous essay cover, Those Who Do Not Love Now Are Guilty. By superimposing Chey’s face on the book cover and changing the title to “Anyone Without Hynix Right Now Is Guilty,” the meme humorously captures the regret and sense of exclusion felt by investors who missed the chance to buy SK hynix, earning strong resonance.

Another popular meme shows Chey stepping out of a vehicle in the middle of a battlefield scene from a film. It includes the line, “There’s no time to explain. Don’t analyze the chart. Just get in.” The joke satirizes investors’ mindset in a market where the stock price is surging day after day, suggesting that they should ride the powerful upward trend rather than dwell on complex earnings or valuation.

The post also included a classic graph explaining how stock market bubbles form. It pokes fun at the way investors, whenever prices spike, cry out about the “birth of a new logic” and rush into blind additional buying.

Other widely shared posts include so-called “worship memes” that portray Chey as a savior or idol, as well as character parodies mocking investors who do not own SK hynix.

Netizens reacted enthusiastically, saying, “In the end, Hynix is hard-carrying KOSPI by grabbing it by the head and dragging it forward,” “Only people who didn’t buy Hynix are becoming overnight poor in this market,” and “The fact that Chey Tae-won memes are pouring out almost every day shows this really is an all-time bull market.”

This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.