An AI-generated image of investors checking stock trades while waiting in line for the restroom [CHATGPT]
An employee restroom at a department store in southern Seoul’s Gangnam District fills up stall by stall every day at 3:30 p.m. They’re there to do business — but not the expected kind. Instead, they’re checking how their stocks did today amid the Kospi boom.
“My team leader disappears every day at 3:30 p.m.,” said an
employee surnamed Kim, who works at the department store. “I later found out it was because they feel awkward checking the stock prices in the office, so they go to the restroom instead.”
“Ever since my team leader started investing in stocks recently, they’ve been doing it every day.”
Department stores are far from the only places where such scenes unfold.
Choi,
who works as a caregiver in a provincial city, has recently started arriving at work an hour early to participate in what workers call an “ajumma stock-reading
room” in the staff lounge.
Ajumma
refers to a middle-aged woman, and reading rooms
are private chat groups or online communities through which participants share stock tips, investment strategies and real-time trading recommendations.
“It’s become routine for employees on the same shift to gather before work, share returns and discuss stocks,” Choi said. “As stories spread about how much money someone made in the group, I also felt compelled to participate regularly.”
As the stock investment craze spreads across all ages and genders, more retail investors — commonly referred to in Korea as “
donghak
ants,” a term for individual domestic stock investors — are reacting with extreme sensitivity to anything that may affect stock prices. With such investors emerging as a major force in shaping public opinion, politicians and government officials, in turn, are becoming increasingly mindful of them.
The number of people holding shares in listed companies reached 14.56 million last year, according to the Korea Securities Depository, meaning that more than one in four Koreans invested in stocks.
Hana Bank employees celebrate Kospi’s crossing of the 7,000 threshold at their trading room in central Seoul on May 6. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
The figure has likely surged, given that the benchmark Kospi has recently extended gains. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the number of active stock trading accounts stood at 105.22 million as of May 4 — up by 6.93 million from the end of last year.
As the number of retail investors grows, so does the number of cases in which people grow more sensitive and link everyday government policies or policymakers’ remarks directly to stock prices.
Kim Yong-beom, the presidential director of national policy, proposed on May 12 a public dividend plan to redistribute excess tax revenue collected from AI companies to the public. Following his remarks, the Kospi plunged nearly 7 percent, led by major semiconductor stocks, such as SK hynix.
It remains unclear whether Kim Yong-beom’s comments directly affected stock prices. However, after foreign media outlets, such as Bloomberg, reported that his remarks had rattled the market, people harshly criticized him on online stock forums, with some claiming that “the policy director bet against SK hynix.”
The Korean Pediatric Association, which is not directly related to the financial market, even
filed a complaint against him with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office at 2 p.m. that day, accusing him of violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act.
Kim Yong-beom, the presidential director of national policy, gives a briefing on the presidential meeting on the response to the Middle East crisis at the Blue House in central Seoul on March 9. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
“The capital market is a legitimate path for young people to build wealth, but Kim [Yong-beom]’s comments undermined trust in the market,” said Lim Hyun
taek, the head of the association.
There have also been cases in which people issued death threats over ordinary policy discussions by civic groups, claiming that they could affect stock prices. For instance, after it became known that some civic groups, including the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, would hold an emergency forum titled “How should excess profits from semiconductors be shared?” on May 13, posts threatening to kill participants appeared on a few online communities. Police were dispatched to the civic group’s office as a result.
More retail investors are also taking direct action rather than merely reacting to public opinion on issues that could influence stock prices. One prominent example involves the recent conflict regarding Samsung Electronics’ labor-management dispute involving bonuses.
The Korea Shareholders Movement Headquarters (translated) recently warned that it would stage a counterrally if Samsung Electronics’ labor unions proceed with a general strike on May 21. The shareholder headquarters argued that excessive bonuses for employees could reduce corporate profits and negatively affect stock prices.
The growing influence of retail investors is also reshaping policy directions. Political parties have repeatedly attempted to introduce a financial investment income tax, which imposes taxes on income earned from financial investments such as stocks, bonds, funds and derivatives. However, each attempt has failed due to opposition from retail investors.
Members of Samsung Electronics’ labor union hold a large-scale rally near the company’s Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi Province on the afternoon of April 23. [JOONGANG ILBO]
As participation in the stock market increases, investors have become a force capable of leading public opinion, according to experts.
“When financial liberalization began in the 1980s, there was only a small number of financial institutions and investors, so there was a strong perception that they constrained democracy,” said Jung Jae-hwan, a professor of political science and international relations at Inha University.
“But with the sharp rise in the Kospi, the situation has completely reversed. As the stock market became popularized and participants shifted from a minority to a majority, democracy itself has come to reflect the demands and interests of the financial market.”
Some experts argue that the government has encouraged excessive sensitivity to stock prices by touting market gains as a sign of economic policy success.
“When stocks soar, people naturally become interested, but the government has also promoted it as an achievement, drawing even more people into the market,” said Jung Eui-jung, the head of the Korea Stockholders Alliance. “Overall, the market is rising, but there are actually more stocks that are not rising than are. People holding declining stocks can’t help but feel frustrated.”
“Stock price declines are ultimately closely tied to people’s lives, so the public is bound to react sensitively,” Jung added. “The government also needs to work to lift those stocks and the Kosdaq index.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
댓글
0