In the early days of 2026, South Korea's stock market surged ahead globally, fueled by the AI craze. To draw in capital inflows and strengthen the Korean won, the authorities rolled out high-risk single-stock leveraged ETFs, specifically targeting Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. These products were mainly aimed at retail investors who were inclined towards high-risk investments. Nevertheless, as market volatility escalated, the daily rebalancing mechanism and the inherent volatility decay of leveraged ETFs resulted in substantial losses for retail investors. On July 13th, the South Korean stock market took a nosedive, plummeting by 8.95% in a single day. The KOSPI index tumbled below the 7,000-point threshold, triggering the 7th circuit breaker of the year. Over 1.2 million leveraged retail accounts reached margin call levels, with 320,000 to 460,000 accounts being forcibly liquidated, leading to the complete depletion of their principal. This policy "gamble" not only ignited market panic and widened the wealth gap but also subjected President Lee Jae-myung to a political backlash.