POPA ReconSouth Korean retail investors are borrowing from banks at a record pace to buy stocks.
South Korean retail investors are borrowing from banks at a record pace to buy stocks. Margin loans just hit ₩36.47 trillion this year, double what they were 12 months ago. When brokerages pushed margin rates toward 10%, retail investors didn't quit. They just switched to bank credit lines instead. Household bank loans jumped ₩9.3 trillion in May alone. That's the fastest monthly increase since August 2024. Bank of Korea data ties that surge directly to stock investment, not mortgages. To understand how far this has gone: a South Korean civil servant posted on the workplace app Blind showin…
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