South Korea's July market rout not only drained brokerage cash and slowed stock-linked household borrowing, but also inflicted steep losses on retail investors who had crowded into technology shares during the rally. Foreign media reports on Aug. 13 highlighted losses suffered by individual investors in SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics after the KOSPI, one of the world's more volatile major equity indexes in recent weeks, surged above 9,000 in mid-June before falling below 5,500 about five weeks later and then fluctuating around 7,000 on Aug. 14. One investor identified only by the surname Kim said he lost about 20 million won ($14,400) last month after putting home-buying savings into tech stocks, with his holdings dropping about 25% in July alone. Another Kim said his SK Hynix investment, funded partly with a work bonus, had once risen to four times his purchase price before falling to roughly half its peak value, leaving the position at about 300 million won ($216,000). An investor surnamed Park, who had concentrated most of his investable cash in Samsung Electronics, said his stake had climbed to 45 million won ($32,400) before sliding sharply. A college student surnamed Lee described buying SK Hynix out of FOMO alongside friends with little investing experience. The accounts add ground-level detail to broader data already showing a sharp reversal in retail risk appetite. Investor deposits in securities accounts fell to 97.93 trillion won ($69.1 billion) as of Aug. 11, the first drop below 100 trillion won since Feb. 13, while the Bank of Korea said the KOSPI fell 22.2% in July and money rotated into time deposits and money market funds. Analysts cited by the BBC said some retail investors also used heavy leverage during the run-up, worsening losses in the downturn, a pattern consistent with margin balances climbing back above 30 trillion won in early August even after the selloff.