Korea's main stock market index will rise to 2300 points next year, Goldman Sachs projected Wednesday. In a press briefing in Seoul, Kwon Goo-hoon, economist at Goldman Sachs, cited the KOSPI's undervalued price-to-earnings ratio of 9.6 this year, saying, "The figure this year was far below its counterparts in most Asian countries, making the index highly attractive for the year ahead."

The figure is 11.4 percent higher than the record high of 2064.85 in October, 2007, and 41 percent higher than the current index. It is the most optimistic forecast among securities firms, domestic or foreign. UBS and CS expect the KOSPI to be around 2000 and 1900.

Goldman presented an overwhelmingly rosy prospect, saying the most optimistic scenario next year with greater-than-expected liquidity and significant improvement in business performance could see the KOSPI surging to the 2700-point level.

It is not the first time for Goldman Sachs has offered an optimistic forecast for the Korean economy. In a report in September, it speculated that a unified Korea could overtake France, Germany, and Japan in terms of GDP by 2050. In its 2005 economic forecasts for 22 emerging economies, it said Korea would see per capita GDP surge to US$90,294 in 2050, second only to the U.S.' $91,683.

Some in the financial sector are doubtful. They point out that as foreign investors bought W31 trillion (US$1=W1,163) worth of Korean stocks this year, the optimistic prospects were made to promise a certain level of profit for overseas investors. Others say since the projections were driven by a strategy to attract local individual investors to Korean stocks, foreign investors would take that as a cue to leave the market.