South Korean Retail Investors Lose $1.45B to Leveraged Trading in Past Month, Youth Hardest Hit

According to Bloomberg data cited by Hupzy, South Korean retail investors suffered an estimated $1.45 billion in losses from leveraged trading over the past month as of July 16. The losses triggered 460,000 forced liquidations and triggered margin calls on approximately 1.2 million leveraged accounts, with investors aged 20–30 accounting for 62% of all forced liquidations.

According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, forced liquidation amounts reached 451.9 billion Korean won between July 1–13.