The Korea Composite Stock Price Index is the index of all common stocks traded on the Stock Market Division—previously, Korea Stock Exchange—of the Korea Exchange. It is the representative stock market index of South Korea, analogous to the S&P 500 in the United States. KOSPI was introduced in 1983 with the base value of 100 as of 4 January 1980. It is calculated based on market capitalization. As of 2007, KOSPI's daily volume is hundreds of millions of shares, valued at trillions of won. Wikipedia