How to Read Korean DART Filings: Seven Checks

In this briefing

1. What is DART?
2. DART and KIND are not the same
3. 1. Company name and ticker code
4. 2. Submission date versus effective date
5. 3. Report types
6. Two ownership filings that look alike
7. Reading the reason for a change
8. 4. Consolidated versus separate
9. 5. Quarterly versus cumulative
10. 6. Amended filings
11. 7. Attachments and footnotes
12. A fast reading order
13. Korean and U.S. equivalents
14. Common misreadings
15. What a filing does not tell you

What is DART?

DART is the Financial Supervisory Service system for filings submitted by Korean listed companies and other reporting entities. It lets you read the company’s actual wording and figures instead of relying only on a news headline.

There are many filings, but they do not carry equal weight. To find what matters quickly, check the report name, the submission date, the effective date, and whether the document is an amendment — in that order.

DART and KIND are not the same

Korea has two disclosure portals. They are run by different institutions, so their contents overlap but do not match exactly.

	DART	KIND
Operator	Financial Supervisory Service	Korea Exchange
Address	dart.fss.or.kr	kind.krx.co.kr
Mainly holds	Statutory filings (periodic, ad hoc, ownership)	Exchange notices, trading actions, responses to rumor inquiries

Some events appear on both; some only on one. If you are looking for trading halts, administrative-issue designations, or a company’s answer to a media report, KIND is usually the faster place to check.

1. Company name and ticker code

Similar company names and subsidiaries are common. Match the legal entity name and the stock code in the search results first. A holding company and its operating subsidiary file separately, so confirm which entity the numbers belong to.

These pairs are confused most often:

• A holding company versus the operating company it owns
• A listed parent versus an unlisted subsidiary
• Past filings made under a former company name
• Preferred shares that carry their own stock code

2. Submission date versus effective date

The submission date is when the document became public. The effective date is when the transaction or holding was measured. An insider ownership report filed today may describe a trade that happened earlier. Confirm the transaction date in the body before calling it “today’s event.”

Filings typically contain four kinds of dates. They answer different questions, so mixing them reorders the story.

Date	Meaning
Filing date	When the document was published on DART
Transaction date	When shares actually changed hands
Record date	The point at which holdings or rights were measured
Resolution date	When the board or another body made the decision

3. Report types

These are the filings you will encounter most often.

Report	What to read first
Annual, half-year, quarterly report	Revenue, profit, cash flow, risk factors
Material fact report	Rights offerings, mergers, asset transfers
Insider and major-shareholder ownership report	Whose holdings changed and why
Large shareholding report	5%+ ownership and any change in purpose
Investor presentation	Company commentary, outlook, non-filed metrics

Two ownership filings that look alike

The two ownership documents are the ones readers mix up most. The names are similar, but the filer and the purpose differ.

	Large shareholding report	Insider / major-shareholder ownership report
Common name	The “5% rule” filing	Insider ownership filing
Who files	A holder whose stake, combined with related parties, crosses a threshold	Company officers and major shareholders
Key information	Cumulative stake, purpose of holding, funding source	Individual changes in share count
Useful for	Watching control-related moves	Watching insider buying and selling

In the large shareholding report, the purpose of holding often matters more than the percentage. A change from “simple investment” to “participation in management” can be more significant than a change in the stake itself.

Insider reports frequently arrive several at a time. Identical titles do not mean identical content, so separate them by filer, share count, and stated reason rather than counting documents.

Reading the reason for a change

The tables in insider reports state a short reason for each change. The same increase in holdings can mean very different things.

• Open-market purchase: bought with the filer’s own money. The most direct signal of an insider’s view.
• Open-market sale: sold on the market — though it may reflect taxes or personal finances.
• Stock option exercise: compensation being realized, not a fresh investment decision.
• Inheritance or gift: a transfer within a family, often unrelated to the outlook.
• Bonus issue or stock dividend: the share count rises while the ownership percentage may not.

4. Consolidated versus separate

Consolidated statements treat the parent and its subsidiaries as one economic entity. Separate statements cover the parent alone. When a news figure differs from a filing, first check which basis each one uses.

The gap is largest at holding companies. On a separate basis, revenue may consist mostly of dividends and brand royalties; on a consolidated basis, the subsidiaries’ operating revenue is included.

5. Quarterly versus cumulative

A half-year report may present both six-month cumulative figures and second-quarter standalone results. If you compare against the prior year or the prior quarter without matching the period, growth rates are badly distorted.

In a third-quarter report, check the column heading to see whether “third-quarter operating profit” means July–September or the January–September total.

6. Amended filings

When a title begins with an amendment marker, read the stated reason and the before-and-after table. If you saved only the original filing, later changes to contract value or schedule will be missing.

Not all amendments carry the same weight. A typo or a missing attachment has little effect, while a change to contract value, counterparty, schedule, or reported earnings changes the nature of the event itself. Amended documents usually include a side-by-side table of what changed — start there.

7. Attachments and footnotes

The attached report, audit report, and investor presentation often carry assumptions that the summary screen omits. Footnotes next to the numbers explain one-off items, accounting policy changes, and newly consolidated subsidiaries.

In the audit report, check the audit opinion and the key audit matters. Anything listed as a key audit matter is an area where the auditor applied significant judgment, even when the opinion is unqualified.

A fast reading order

1. Confirm the legal entity and stock code
2. Separate the filing date from the event date
3. Check whether it is a new filing or an amendment
4. Confirm consolidated versus separate, and the currency unit
5. Separate quarterly figures from cumulative figures
6. Confirm the comparison basis against prior periods
7. Open the attachments and footnotes

Korean and U.S. equivalents

The same type of event carries different document names in each country. If you follow both markets, this mapping makes searching faster.

Korea (DART)	United States (SEC EDGAR)
Annual report	10-K
Half-year / quarterly report	10-Q
Material fact report	8-K
Insider ownership report	Form 4
Large shareholding report (5% rule)	Schedule 13D / 13G
Shareholder meeting notice	DEF 14A

U.S. documents can be searched by company name or ticker on SEC EDGAR full-text search.

Common misreadings

“Many filings means something big happened.” Volume does not track importance. Periodic deadlines cluster, and a single event can produce separate filings from several reporting parties.

“An insider bought, so the stock will rise.” The reason may be an option exercise or an inheritance, and even an open-market purchase reflects one person’s judgment, not guaranteed results.

“A large supply contract means earnings will grow by that amount.” Contract values are often totals across the full term. Check the contract period, revenue recognition method, and cost terms before estimating quarterly impact.

“An amendment was filed, so something is wrong.” Many amendments are procedural. What changed in the before-and-after table is the test.

What a filing does not tell you

Filings are where fact-checking starts, but they do not indicate price direction. An insider’s acquisition can stem from compensation, inheritance, or an open-market purchase, and a large contract’s profit contribution depends on recognition timing and cost terms. Read the facts in the document separately from forecasts about those facts.

Filing deadlines and detailed requirements can change with amendments to the law. If a deadline matters to your conclusion, confirm it against DART’s disclosure-system guidance and the applicable regulations.