South Korea's KOSPI shed $2.18 trillion in two days as AI chip stocks crashed, crushing leveraged retail investors and triggering regulatory

South Korea's Kospi index dropped 8% as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares plunged, driven by AI financing risks and growing competition from China's semiconductor industry.

South Korean equities suffered their steepest one-day decline in nearly five months on Tuesday, with the benchmark KOSPI sliding almost 11% as a global rout in semiconductor…