4 Mar 2026
That’s the surface story.
The real story might be the biggest hidden risk in the AI boom.
In 48 hours, the KOSPI fell 17%.
$275B wiped out.
Circuit breakers triggered.
Tech giants took the hit:
• Samsung −10%
• SK Hynix −12%
Most analysts blame rising tensions in the Middle East and oil above $80.
But something deeper is being exposed.
Samsung + SK Hynix control:
• ~67% of global DRAM
• ~80% of high-bandwidth memory (HBM)
HBM is the critical fuel of AI infrastructure.
Every AI datacenter depends on it.
NVIDIA chips.
Google TPUs.
Hyperscaler AI clusters.
And almost all of it comes from one country: South Korea.
Here’s the vulnerability:
South Korea imports 97% of its energy.
Much of it flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
The same strait currently under geopolitical threat.
That means the AI supply chain may have a single hidden chokepoint:
Not chips.
Not talent.
Not capital.
Energy.
Because semiconductor fabs cannot run without massive power.
And global memory inventories are thin:
• DRAM: ~2–3 weeks
• NAND: ~3–4 weeks
If energy flows are disrupted for more than a month, the entire AI infrastructure buildout could face delays.
Markets are already reacting.
While semiconductors crashed, defense stocks surged.
Capital isn’t leaving Korea.
It’s rotating into a new thesis:
Energy security is the real constraint of the AI era.
The market may have just discovered the weakest link in the AI supercycle.
And it’s only 21 miles wide.
(The Strait of Hormuz.)
Source: Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡
