South Korean retail investors left 37.79575 billion won in unpaid principal after forced stock sales during the first seven months, about 5.1 times the 7.45588 billion won recorded a year earlier. The figures, obtained by the office of Rep. Park Dae-chul of the ruling People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, from the Financial Supervisory Service, cover the 10 largest securities firms by equity capital. Unpaid principal arises when stock bought with borrowed money is forcibly sold after a price decline, but the proceeds do not cover the brokerage loan. The monthly total surged to 13.11467 billion won in June and 8.8164 billion won in July after the KOSPI climbed to 9,385 on June 19 before falling toward 5,500. Kiwoom Securities accounted for 20.68504 billion won, or 54.7% of the total. Margin loan balances reached a record 38.6328 trillion won on June 24, while unpaid receivable balances at the 10 firms rose to a record 1.351 trillion won at the end of July. The figures may exceed actual remaining debt if investors later provide cash or firms recover claims, but another market decline could increase both forced liquidations and residual debt.