Young South Korean investors are finding company in collective misery by sharing their losses on social media

Young South Koreans are coping pinch the latest stock marketplace rout pinch humor: making memes, cracking acheronian jokes, and posting screenshots of their battered portfolios online.

After soaring earlier this twelvemonth connected AI optimism, the country's benchmark Kospi index has been rocked by crisp swings, leaving galore unit investors successful the red.

The scale has mislaid astir one-third of its worth since hitting a grounds precocious successful June, erasing overmuch of the gains that had much than doubled from the commencement of the year.

The fallout from the marketplace volatility spilled complete to TikTok and Instagram, wherever young South Koreans are documenting the roller coaster ride.

Smiling done the pain

Many of the posts, often tagged pinch the Korean connection for "stocks," thin into self-deprecating joke arsenic young unit investors poked nosy astatine what they said were awesome portfolio losses they'd taken.

Business Insider could not independently verify their banal trades. However, the corporate sharing of these screenshots points to the truth that staggering marketplace losses person go an important taste infinitesimal successful South Korea.

One Instagram user danced to Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" arsenic the video cycled done what she said were losses connected her Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and different banal holdings. The on-screen matter said that while she had grounded astatine dieting, her finance relationship managed to suffer weight.

Her caption included a Korean pun implying that moreover a marketplace diminution "rocks."

Another personification posted an Instagram video of himself shouting dramatically arsenic the on-screen image displayed what he said were losses crossed his holdings successful Samsung Electronics and LG Innotek, among others. The caption said he wanted to tally distant from Korean stocks.

Another Instagram user poked nosy astatine really losses had affected her regular life, filming herself eating convenience-store instant ramen. A schematic connected the surface that the personification said was her portfolio showed her investments down much than 68%.

The on-screen matter said her banal losses had forced her to move to cheaper staple foods, earlier adding: "Plot twist: ramen perfectly slaps."

In the caption, she joked that she could forgive meme coins for falling, but didn't expect blue-chip stocks to fto her down. She besides tried to reassure herself that she genuinely liked convenience-store nutrient anyway, earlier ending the station pinch a dark-humored reference to the Han River.

Similar videos person besides appeared connected TikTok, wherever users tagged their posts pinch position including the Korean connection for "stocks," "Hynix," and "relatable."

Unlike the Instagram posts, which often featured screenshots of what the users said were their ain portfolios, the TikTok videos poked nosy astatine the volatility of the broader market.

In 1 video, a TikTok user overlaid the KOSPI scale onto footage of a roller coaster, pinch a cutout of himself successful the area mimicking the ride's ups and downs.

Another TikTok personification portrayed the aftermath of investing successful Korean stocks, collapsing backward arsenic a banal floor plan successful the reddish filled the screen.

Misery does emotion institution — and it isn't the first clip that societal media users successful East Asia person taken to societal media to talk astir being successful dire financial straits.

In May 2023, hundreds of Chinese societal media users posted what they said were screenshots of their slope accounts nether a viral hashtag connected Weibo, the Chinese type of X. The hashtag, titled "My existent savings astatine 26," saw hundreds of group making posts complete pinch slope statements, displaying what they said were slope accounts pinch $0.14 to respective 1000 dollars.

Boom earlier bust

The joke is happening against a acold much superior backdrop.

South Korea's households are among the astir indebted successful the developed world, and this year's AI rally drew successful a activity of unit investors, immoderate of whom were utilizing borrowed money.

As the Kospi unraveled, the memes became a coping system for losses that were each excessively real.

But location was small to laughter about. The Kospi had conscionable endured 1 of the astir turbulent months successful its history.

The benchmark scale ended July down 22% from a period earlier aft chaotic regular swings that triggered market-wide circuit breakers 4 times.

The sell-off followed a blistering first-half rally that made South Korea 1 of the world's best-performing banal markets. Surging request for AI representation chips sent Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to grounds highs.

But the rally besides near the marketplace progressively limited connected the 2 representation chipmakers. As investors crowded into Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the broader scale became much susceptible erstwhile sentiment turned.

Forced trading by investors who had borrowed money to bargain stocks accelerated the decline.

The turmoil besides exposed the risks of South Korea's caller marketplace for single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, which fto investors make amplified bets connected companies specified arsenic Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Concerned that the products were fueling speculation, South Korean regulators temporarily suspended caller listings of specified funds, banned financial firms from advertizing them, and raised the minimum rate deposit required for unit investors.