South Korea's KOSDAQ Plummets 480 Points on Leveraged Semiconductor ETF Outflows

According to Hankyoreh, on July 21, South Korea's KOSDAQ index fell to 753.34, down 480 points from its April 27 peak of 1,226.18, erasing gains since President Lee Jae-myung's inauguration. The decline was driven by massive fund flows into leveraged ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which drew 5.85 trillion won in net inflows over the past month from retail investors.

The outflows from KOSDAQ growth stocks have sparked delisting fears. The number of companies designated as managed stocks due to insufficient market capitalization surged to 9 in July alone (through July 21), compared to just 6 during the first half of 2026, following the government's repeated increases in listing maintenance standards to 20 billion won and 30 billion won.