South Korean stocks face a "Bloody July": 1.2 million accounts hit margin calls, over 300,000 positions liquidated, adult liquidation rate reaches 1/30, retail margin evaporates nearly 30 trillion won in half a month

According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, as of July 13, over 1.2 million leveraged retail accounts in the Korean market have hit margin call levels. Of these, approximately 320,000 to 360,000 accounts were fully forcibly liquidated by brokerages. Considering South Korea's population base, this equates to roughly 1 in 30 adults (about 3.4%) facing liquidation risk. The estimated total loss from broad leveraged positions is approximately 2.15 trillion won (about $1.44 billion).

Since July, the cumulative scale of forced liquidations in South Korea has reached 344.2 billion won. Notably, on July 9 alone, liquidations hit 142.2 billion won, a nearly fivefold surge from the previous day's 28.8 billion won. The balance of retail margin deposits has evaporated by nearly 30 trillion won compared to the end of June, dropping to 107.1 trillion won – the lowest level since June 2020. (WSJ)