On Tuesday, June 23, the South Korean stock market witnessed a substantial drop, a downturn fueled by investors offloading leading chip stocks due to fears of an overheated market rally. Both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix saw their shares plummet by over 5%. In reaction, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSDAQ) and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) activated circuit breakers, suspending program trading for a full five minutes. During the morning session, foreign investors net sold KOSPI stocks valued at over KRW 2 trillion (approximately USD 1.3 billion), whereas retail investors chose to buy at the dips. This wave of selling was mainly spurred by profit-taking after recent rapid gains, as the market increasingly displayed signs of being overbought. High levels of retail leverage and margin balances may have exacerbated the declines, rendering the market more susceptible to adverse factors.