Korean retail investors' recent moves are truly remarkable. People thought their withdrawal from the crypto market signaled remorse, but they turned around and rushed into the stock market, directly pushing the KOSPI index up by 70% this year. Samsung Electronics' stock price doubled, and SK Hynix surged by 240%. Brokerage apps were overwhelmed and crashed, prompting urgent expansion of capacity. Looking at this trend, it's not rational investing—it's clearly treating stocks like altcoins.

Once the data was released, it became even more outrageous. By 2025, Korean retail investors' leveraged funds will account for 28.7% of total holdings, a full 9 percentage points higher than last year. The craziest are the young people aged 25-35, with leverage usage soaring to 41.2%, practically flooring the accelerator. They average 3.2 trades per day—6.7 times the frequency of institutional traders. During October, in 16 days, retail trading volume accounted for over 60%. This high-frequency trading intensity, honestly, surpasses the madness of the crypto bubble years.

Thinking about it, it all makes sense. The speculative nature of Korean retail investors has been ingrained in their bones for a long time. In 2010, they launched leverage ETFs, the earliest in Asia to try this. Back when they were trading cryptocurrencies, the same coin could be traded with a 5%-20% "kimchi premium." Now, they’re piling into AI and semiconductor stocks, ignoring valuation levels, just chasing hot topics. This approach is like changing the stage, but the essence of speculation remains the same.

Ultimately, the market hasn't truly changed. Gambling instincts aren’t something that fade just because you switch asset classes. From crypto to stocks, from leveraged coins to leveraged ETFs, it’s the same old story. This time, the Korean retail investor saga is just a replay of the age-old script of speculation, with real data and soaring stock prices playing the roles.