When sharp rises and drops become commonplace, the Korean stock market is gradually becoming "meme-ified"

Golden Ten Data reported on June 24th that volatility in South Korea’s benchmark stock index has reached such extreme levels that investors and analysts are comparing the market’s intraday swings to the “meme stock” fervor. While this comparison might initially seem exaggerated given that the Kospi index is underpinned by robust earnings from world-leading chip manufacturers, it’s not entirely without basis. Retail investor interest continues to heat up: this year, the Kospi index has seen 20 trading days with closing moves of at least 5%, compared to just 2 such days in all of 2025. Samsung Electronics has already seen 8 trading days this year where its price moved by 10% or more—there were zero such occurrences last year; SK Hynix has seen 11 this year, compared to 2 in 2025. This conjures memories of the past retail frenzy surrounding stocks like GameStop and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY). A major driver behind the surge in volatility is the retail craze for leveraged single-stock ETFs. In addition, the increasing dominance of these two heavyweight stocks has further exacerbated fluctuations. According to estimates by Goldman Sachs, a 5% move in South Korean stocks could trigger around $4.7 billion of ETF rebalancing flows, as options traders adjust their risk exposure. This amount is equivalent to roughly one-eighth of normal daily trading volume in the Korean equity market.