Korean stocks face a "Bloody July": 1.2 million accounts hit margin call lines, over 300,000 accounts liquidated, adult liquidation rate as high as 1 in 30, retail investor margin evaporates nearly 30 trillion won in half a month

According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea, as of July 13, over 1.2 million leveraged retail investor accounts in the Korean market have hit their margin call lines. Among these, approximately 320,000 to 360,000 accounts have been fully forcibly closed by brokerages. Relative to South Korea's population base, this figure means that 1 in every 30 adults (approximately 3.4%) faces the risk of liquidation. The total estimated broad leverage loss is about 2.15 trillion won (approximately $1.44 billion).

Since the beginning of July, the cumulative forced liquidation scale for the month has already reached 344.2 billion won. Notably, on July 9 alone, forced liquidations amounted to 142.2 billion won, a nearly fivefold increase from the previous day's 28.8 billion won. The balance of retail investor margin deposits has plummeted by nearly 30 trillion won from the end of June, falling to 107.1 trillion won—the lowest level since June 2020. (Source: Wall Street News)