The South Korean stock market remained volatile on Friday — down more than 30% ‌from a peak late in June. The benchmark KOSPI soared more than 16% in early trade after three consecutive sessions of losses that took ⁠the index to its lowest level since April 7. Investors have lost more than $2.18 trillion in market value since Wednesday, with many retail investors recounting their deep losses via social media.

It began with a meteoric surge for the KOSPI amid a global AI frenzy. The index skyrocketed over 122% within the first five months of 2026 to hit a lifetime high of 9,386 by June. Local investors had rushed in somewhat late to claim a slice of the profits — with young people, pensioners and regular workers going so far as to borrow money, and cash out savings and insurance policies to fund their speculative buying spree. The same group was left holding the bag as the hottest trade in the world hit reverse in late July. 

The country’s stock market has shot down by about 40% in a month — with the government issuing apologies and holding emergency meetings. New regulatory caps have also been imposed amid widespread demonstrations and online laments. The South Korean government is also facing heat for cheering the rising markets, with many investors placing condolence flowers outside the parliament building in protest.

“Slaughtering retail investors…Wait ’til pay back time, I will repay next time I vote,” Reuters quoted the posters as saying.

‘I lost all my life savings’

According to a recent article by Financial Times, retail investors are now lamenting losses of 70% to 80% from ETFs.  

“When can I get out of this hell?” Financial Times quoted one investor as asking on a brokerage chat room after their Tiger SK Hynix Leverage ETF holding sank by 65%. per cent. 

“My life’s screwed. I don’t think there’s any way out,” wrote another individual quoted by the publication.

Unverified posts on social media also highlight the magnitude of the crisis — with countless users sharing the extent of their losses. Some raged against the South Korean government while others admitted that they had made a mistake by using their life savings, selling their house to trade or even cashing out insurance policies. FinancialExpress could not independently verify the claims made on these posts. 

“I lost all my life savings built over 40 years — 2.2 billion won. And as of today, I am completely bankrupt. I honestly don’t know where everything went wrong…I trusted this government and bought the SK Hynix leveraged ETF as soon as it launched, but as of today, I lost everything and went broke…I even sold my house to trade stocks, and I feel so much bitter resentment toward myself and deep regret,” multiple screenshots posted on X cited a Korean man as claiming. 

Another widely shared post on the social media platform outlined how a Korean family had lost nearly Rs 2 crore and become unable to pay their apartment loan despite initial investment success. The translated post shared on X said the family had accumulated 600 million KRW after saving for 15 years and made the down payment for a small apartment. The user had decided to use about 500 million KRW remaining before the next installment was due to invest in the stock market after seeing others profit from Samsung Electronics. 

“At first, making money equivalent to my monthly salary every other day made the world look so easy. I bought iPhone 17s for my precious first and second daughters, and bought a luxury handbag for my wife for the very first time in my life… Those were happy days,” the post continued. 

But the joys were short lived as the market crashed. The user revealed that they had now lost more than 300 million KRW of their hard earned money — adding that they now “feel like dying”.

“Now, loans aren’t getting approved, and even if I pull together all my severance pay, I’m in a situation where I can’t pay the middle payment installment,” the post added.

Market reversal on the cards?

The KOSPI surged as much as 17.1% on Friday morning before ‌pulling back slightly. Chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics — which make up more than half the benchmark — rose as much as 29.7% and 26.3% in their respective largest single-day rise to date. 

The rebound followed Microsoft’s report Thursday of stronger than expected profits for the last quarter. Microsoft’s shares soared 15.5% for its best day in nearly 18 years. Investors appear to have taken the strong earnings as a signal that big spending on AI is translating into profits.Traders flooded back into the market to snap up shares in tech companies that had recently swooned over doubts that the huge investments will yield adequate returns. 

Despite a brutal six-week crash that erased over two-thirds of its massive annual gains on thinning volume, the KOSPI remains up around 50% year-to-date after a highly volatile run this year. But the index remains well below the peak of over 9,000 that it hit in June.