South Korean stocks had their best year in more than a decade in 2020. Here's what drove them higher

) rose 38.4% in 2020, outperforming most developed and emerging markets. The ETF's year-to-date gains top those of other widely followed emerging markets as well as the S&P 500 in the U.S.

South Korea's strong equity market returns came as the country's health response to the coronavirus pandemic — along with fiscal and monetary stimulus measures already in place — kept its economy from missing a beat for most of 2020. "In South Korea, you have this combination of good health public policy together with plenty of [economic] policy support," said Mehran Nakhjavani, partner and emerging market strategist at MRB Partners. "The timing of it all was fortuitous."

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