1.2 Million South Korean Retail Investors Receive Margin Calls as Exports Surge and Growth Forecast Rises

More than 1.2 million leveraged retail accounts in South Korea triggered margin calls as of July 13 2026. The total equals more than 3 percent of the country's adult population aged 15 to 64, which stands at 35.7 million. Approximately 320,000 to 360,000 of those accounts were fully liquidated by brokers.

The Bank of Korea raised its policy interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2.75 percent on Thursday. The increase marked the central bank's first rate hike in more than three years and its first under Governor Shin Hyun-song, who took office in April 2026. The bank had held the rate at 2.5 percent since May 2025.

Consumer inflation rose 3.2 percent year-over-year in June, above the bank's 2 percent target. Exports surged 70.9 percent in the same month. The government raised its 2026 growth forecast to 3.0 percent, above the IMF projection of 2.6 percent.

The Kospi index fell 6.4 percent on Thursday and has declined about 27 percent from its June peak. Samsung Electronics shares dropped 8.8 percent and SK Hynix shares fell 12 percent on the day. The won weakened 5 percent against the U.S.

Dollar year to date and reached its lowest level since the 2008 global financial crisis. The Financial Services Commission announced on Thursday that it would suspend new listings of single-stock leveraged ETFs. It also banned advertising or marketing of the products and raised the minimum cash deposit for new investments to 30 million won, or about $20,000.

The products were launched in May 2026 and track volatile memory-chip stocks. Retail brokerage deposits fell by 30 trillion won to their lowest level since February 20 2026. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together account for about half of the Kospi's market capitalization.

Governor Shin said at a press conference that semiconductor-driven growth is feeding into domestic demand and that underlying inflationary pressures are likely to be stronger and persist longer than previously anticipated. He added that the bank will respond until it is convinced inflation stabilizes at the target level.