Korean stock market circuit breakers have become a “daily routine,” high volatility is attracting retail investors, and Korean stock trading has turned into a “Squid Game.”

BlockBeats News, July 7 – The Wall Street Journal yesterday published an article analyzing the recent high volatility in the South Korean stock market. The article cited data indicating that over the past year, the Korea KOSPI index experienced daily fluctuations exceeding 2% as many as 77 times. During the same period, the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index had only 5 such sharp fluctuations. The KOSPI had 44 days with daily fluctuations exceeding 3%, while the S&P 500 never exceeded 3%, and the KOSPI had 23 days with daily fluctuations exceeding 5%.

The report stated that this volatility has become one of the factors attracting many South Korean retail investors, who trade purely for the sake of trading. Maxence Visseau, founder of macro and quantitative hedge fund Arkevium Capital, commented: "For thrill-seeking retail investors, volatility is exactly the key factor that draws them in."

The report also noted that foreign capital outflow exceeded $100 billion (approximately 154 trillion won) in the first half of this year, with $30 billion flowing out in June alone. This trend "could ultimately leave local investors exposed to losses."