Executives of Naver affiliate and U.S. online comic platform, Webtoon Entertainment, pose with Korean webcomic artists in New York, Thursday (local time), the day of the company's initial public offering. Yonhap

Several iconic Korean platform companies, such as Naver's Webtoon Entertainment, Yanolja, and Dunamu, are opting to be listed on Nasdaq instead of the benchmark KOSPI or secondary Kosdaq to raise capital.

Their strategy, according to experts, stems from the fact that Nasdaq, the smaller peer of the two U.S. stock exchanges after the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has far more liquidity as well as business-friendly rules compared to the KOSPI.

Experts noted that the preference for Nasdaq over the Korea Exchange (KRX), the country's sole bourse operator, could be seen as embarrassing. They pointed out that KRX has been striving to enhance liquidity and streamline regulations as part of the government's stock market reform efforts.

"More Korean businesses are likely to follow in the footsteps of Webtoon Entertainment unless the KRX comes up with eye-catching, highly practical measures for them to make a debut here," said Kim Kyu-shik, chairman of the Korean Corporate Governance Forum, which monitors the transparency of stock market activities by corporations.

He referred to Webtoon Entertainment, a U.S. online comic platform backed by internet giant Naver, which surged nearly 10 percent and closed at $23 per share on the day of its IPO on Nasdaq, Thursday (local time).

The closing price put Webtoon Entertainment's estimated valuation at $2.92 billion.

The valuation rose from $2.7 billion just before the company was listed, with each of its 15 million common stocks priced at $21.

Webtoon Entertainment joined Gravity, a video game developer, as the only Korean firms listed on Nasdaq.

Korea has nine listed companies on the NYSE, including conglomerates and their affiliates such as POSCO and SK Telecom, and most recently, e-commerce giant Coupang.

"I doubt whether the company (Webtoon Entertainment) would have been able to attract an equivalent volume of investments in Seoul in one day, given the size of the market and regulatory rules," said Kim Joon-ho, a stock expert and head of Korea Investment Trust Management.

He noted that the NYSE has a market capitalization of $19 trillion, whereas KOSPI's market cap is smaller than that of Apple at $3.22 trillion won.

Regarding regulatory rules, the KRX has been tightening its criteria for company listings under the guise of preventing fraudulent firms from entering the market and causing financial harm to investors.

Among other Korean platforms, travel booking platform Yanolja is valued at around 12 trillion won ($8.68 billion). It is aiming to go public on Nasdaq possibly in July.

There is speculation that crypto giant Dunamu may also consider a Nasdaq listing, following its rapid growth as the operator of Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit.

The company has not yet disclosed details regarding the timing of a potential IPO.

Meanwhile, industry sources believe that the KRX's profits from IPO commissions may continue to decline if more companies choose to debut in the U.S.

KRX's sales reached 1.2 trillion won in 2023, up 7.97 percent from a year earlier. But sales from IPO commissions slipped 0.4 percent year-on-year to 18.9 billion won.