00:02You're listening to AI PRISM from Seoul Economic Daily.
00:06If you've been watching Kospi Whipsaw for weeks, here's why the usual safety net has gone missing.
00:12National Pension actually sold shares during this month's crash.
00:16Margin call liquidations jumped 50% in a single day.
00:21Korean households are stacking up record savings even as stocks fall.
00:25It's Friday, October 16th.
00:27Let's look at what this means for retail investors in Korea.
00:31Korea's benchmark indexes have fallen sharply this month,
00:35with the Kospi dropping from above 7,000 to the mid-5,000s and the COSDAC sliding in tandem.
00:41Pension funds and other institutional buyers have traditionally stepped in during steep sell-offs to cushion the market.
00:48This time, several of Korea's largest institutional holders are constrained by how much of their portfolios they're already allowed to
00:55hold in domestic stocks.
00:57Here's what the numbers show.
00:58National Pension sold a net 183.2 billion won, about $135 million, in Korean stocks between October 6th and October
01:0915th, even as the Kospi fell toward 5,554.
01:14The fund has sold 9.03 trillion won, roughly $6.7 billion, in Kospi shares so far this year, a
01:23total that kept climbing even during August and September's sideways market.
01:27National Pension's domestic equity weighting hit 29.1% at the end of June, above its own 28.8%
01:35ceiling.
01:35Margin call forced selling hit 89.3 billion won, about $66 million, on October 14th, up 50.5% from
01:46the day before and the highest level since July.
01:49Outstanding margin loans still sit at 33.7 trillion won, around $25 billion, roughly 6 trillion won higher than August's
01:59low.
02:00The Bank of Korea's August M2 money supply rose 39.1 trillion won, about $29 billion from July, with two
02:09-year deposit balances posting their biggest monthly jump since late 2022.
02:13So what does this mean for retail investors in Korea?
02:17Earlier, we said National Pension actually sold shares during this crash.
02:21Here's what that actually means for you.
02:24The institutional buyer that usually cushions sharp drops has less room to add Korean stocks right now,
02:30so swings in either direction may run further before they slow.
02:34At the same time, record household savings growth suggests cash on the sidelines is building,
02:39which matters for how fast buying power could return once volatility eases.
02:44National Pension's next monthly equity allocation update, typically out in early November, will show if the ceiling pressure has eased.
02:52Watch whether margin call liquidation levels hold above 80 billion won through the end of October.
02:58And the Bank of Korea's September M2 release, due mid-November, will show if deposit growth keeps accelerating.
03:04That's today's AI Prism, retail investors.
03:08This episode was produced with AI assistance based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting and reviewed by a human editor.
03:15AI Prism is a Juan Ifra award-winning series.
03:18We'll be back tomorrow.
03:20You've been listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
03:23The New Economy
