South Korea launched 16 single-stock leveraged ETFs on May 27, 2026, and the experiment went from promising to cautionary tale in under a month. The funds, built around Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, pulled in assets so fast that regulators publicly said they wished they’d never approved them.
That’s not a paraphrase. Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin said on June 22, 2026, that he regretted greenlighting these products. Markets listened. The following day, specific ETFs dropped more than 25%, the KOSPI triggered a circuit breaker, and the shockwaves reached US Nasdaq futures and major semiconductor names.
How $3 billion became $9.1 billion in weeks
At launch, the 16 ETFs held a combined roughly $3 billion in assets. Within weeks, that figure climbed to approximately $9.1 billion, or about 14 trillion Korean won. About 92% of the ETF holders were individual, non-institutional buyers.
The broader South Korean leveraged ETF market tells an even bigger story. Total assets under management in that category reached a record roughly $45 billion by early July 2026, representing around 800% year-to-date growth.
