PANews reported on January 5th that Japanese and South Korean stock markets surged today. The Nikkei 225 index closed up 1493.32 points, or 2.97%, at 51832.80 on Monday, January 5th, led by gains in chip and heavy industry stocks. The South Korean KOSPI index closed up 147.89 points, or 3.43%, at 4457.52 on Monday, January 5th, a record closing high, again led by gains in chip and defense stocks; Samsung Electronics rose 7.47%, its largest single-day gain since March 24, 2020.