[2026-07-29] CNBC

South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Tuesday he would try to derive a mutually beneficial trade agreement with the United States.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

South Korea's finance minister apologized on Wednesday after retail investors racked up heavy losses from leveraged bets on stocks, following rule changes earlier this year.

The May 27 introduction of single-stock leveraged Exchange Traded Funds has seen Korean retail investors pile in with net purchases of 14 trillion won ($9.7 billion), compared with roughly 2 trillion won by foreign investors, according to KB Financial Group.

But the speculative trading boom that helped fuel one of the world's hottest equity markets has resulted in those investors nursing heavy losses as Korea's Kospi index has experienced a sharp correction, led by a downturn in chip stocks.

The pain has been especially acute for holders of single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which had surged alongside the AI-driven semiconductor rally.

The KODEX SK Hynix Single Stock Leverage ETF — a product designed to deliver twice the daily move in SK Hynix shares  — has fallen more than 80% since its June 23 peak, according to LSEG data.

The equivalent product tracking Samsung has fallen almost 75% from its peak on June 3.

It comes after a blistering rally in the Kospi has come to an abrupt halt, with jitters over chip stocks seeing the value of the index plunging almost 35% over the last month.

See Chart...

The Kospi's fortunes have reversed in recent weeks as investor jitters have rattled the index's largest constituents

South Korea's finance minister Koo Yun-cheol accepted lawmakers' demand for an apology in a parliamentary session on Wednesday after single-stock leveraged ETFs were introduced without careful consideration, according to Reuters.

The country's Financial Services Commission Lee Eog-weon also said on Wednesday that the regulator is considering cutting off access to the products to all but professional investors.

Lee told the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee in Seoul that "if necessary, there is a way to raise [the investment requirements] up to professional investors," according to the Seoul Economic Daily.

He added that regulators could lower the leverage multiple of single-stock leverage products if the necessary legislation is prepared by lawmakers.

Lee said: "Since [the tracking multiple of] two times is too large, lowering it would likely have an effect in terms of easing volatility." He added, "We will look into how to take investors into account, such as through beneficiary general meetings, together during the process of considering the bill."

— CNBC's Lee Ying Shan and Blair Baek helped contribute to this report.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/58766855

sources

on the dprk

• right to housing and retirement, multi-party peoples democracy: constitution of the dprk
• power checks and balances: infographic: why the us is a dictatorship and the dprk isnt.
• welfare economy: prolewiki article about the dprk, section on economy (that whole article is generally really great and debunks a lot of western propaganda)
• democratic since inception: kim byong sik. "modern korea: the socialist north, revolutionary perspectives in the south, and unification." 1970.

on the rok

• poverty, slums: prolewiki-article on the term "hell josoen"
• political prisoners: western source confirming the existence of the national security law, stephen gowans (2018). patriots, traitors and empires: the story of koreas struggle for freedom: 'the political partition of korea' (pp. 115–116) , and the prolewiki-article on the rok, sections "national security law" and "unconverted long-term prisoners"
• widespread corruption: a lot of reporting can be found on this topic, even in western media. lets just take the government-sanctioned prostitution and sex trafficking as an example, though there is other equally horrific stuff, including the usage of disabled people as agricultural slaves.
• worlds second highest suicide rate: katrin park (2021-10-5). "south korea is no country for young people" doreign policy.
• tyrannical history: prolewiki-article on the rok, section "history" warning: very bleak read

debunking of anticipated liberal comments

norf korea no food

malnutrition was in fact a thing during the 1990s, though the portrayals of this time period, the so called "arduous march" in westen media are usually exaggerated. mostly omitted by american-allied media is the fact that those difficulties were caused by the inhumane and terrorist western sanctions and embargo against the dprk, as well as the cia-backed illegal and undemocratic dissolution of the ussr. nowadays problems regarding food security have pretty much seized to exist in the country.

hermit kingdom

first of all, the term itself is nothing but racist, orientalist nonsense, but whatever... the dprk is in no way a kingdom, its democratic model of governance, while obviously imperfect and worthy of (constructive) criticism, is explained in the constitution and infographic linked above.

furthermore, the county is neither "reclusive", nor internationally isolated. the dprk enjoys very friendly relations with fellow aes china, cuba, laos and vietnam, as well as anti-imperialist nations like iran, russia and palestine. the reason you dont hear much from inside the country is due to western press not wanting to report the truth.

no lights, no electricity

the famous "no lights"-photo is a photoshopped fake initially circulated by a southern far-right tabloid. here is an actual image of east asia, including the korean peninsula:

haircut police

unlike south korea, the dprk never had such policies. here is a very entertaining video debunking that myth.

Happened while he was campaigning for re-election

Why is it allowed? It seems dangerous for drivers and pedestrians

Are there plans to phase it out?

Japan outlaws on-street parking under the logic that it's using public space to house private property.

안녕하세요! Checking in from Jeju