South Korean stock market circuit breakers have become a daily occurrence, with the market’s high volatility attracting retail investors, turning South Korean stock trading into a "Squid Game".

The Wall Street Journal published an article yesterday analyzing the recent high volatility in South Korea’s stock market. The piece cited data showing that over the past year, South Korea’s KOSPI index has seen 77 instances of single-day volatility exceeding 2%. Over the same period, the S&P 500, a key U.S. stock index, has only recorded 5 such sharp swings. The KOSPI has logged 44 days with single-day volatility above 3%, while the S&P 500 has never breached that threshold. The index has also seen 23 days of single-day volatility over 5%. The report notes that this volatility has become one of the factors drawing 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 retail investors seeking excitement, volatility is exactly what draws them in.” The report also points out that foreign capital outflows exceeded $100 billion (equivalent to around 154 trillion won) in the first half of this year, with $30 billion flowing out in June alone. This trend “could ultimately lead to losses for local investors.”