How to Read a Korean Stock Ticker
A Korean stock code identifies a traded security, not the entire corporate group. Preserve leading zeros and match the issuer, exchange, and share class before using a quote. Samsung Electronics common shares (005930) and preferred shares (005935) illustrate why the company name alone is insufficient.
Reviewed
- Keep leading zeros when searching, exporting, or matching codes.
- Treat common and preferred shares as different securities of one issuer.
- Distinguish a stock code from the company and filing identifiers used by DART.
Use the share-class mapping, not a name guess
Samsung’s listing table identifies its two KRX share classes separately. Use that issuer mapping to resolve the security rather than inferring all share-class rights from the final digit. Compare the exact code with your broker and the company page before attaching a price to your research.
| KRX code | Issuer | Share class |
|---|---|---|
| 005930 | Samsung Electronics | Common |
| 005935 | Samsung Electronics | Preferred |
Keep stock, company, and filing identifiers separate
The FSS filing-search documentation distinguishes a stock code, an eight-digit corporation code, and a fourteen-digit filing number. A stock code locates a listed security; a filing number locates one submitted document. Using a ticker as though it were a filing number will not retrieve the source report.
Preserve the code when moving between tools
Store stock codes as text in a spreadsheet or research note: numeric conversion removes leading zeros, and codes can also contain letters. Daishin Securities’ notice for Samjin Food lists A0013V0, including the transport prefix A; Koreantickers uses the six-character security code 0013V0. Preserve the V when matching records. When a search result looks wrong, compare the market, issuer names, and instrument type rather than merging records by translated name alone.
Keep the business and the security in separate rows
Use the company’s financials to research its operations, then use the selected share class for price, trading activity, dividends, and rights. This avoids counting the same operating business twice in a company comparison or mixing one class’s price with another class’s terms.
Common questions
Are 005930 and 005935 two different companies?
No. Samsung’s listing information identifies them as common and preferred shares of Samsung Electronics. They are distinct traded securities tied to the same issuer.
Why did my spreadsheet change 005930 to 5930?
It treated the code as a number. Import or format the column as text so leading zeros survive. Preserve the original identifier when matching your spreadsheet to a broker, issuer page, or filing search.