A 24‑year‑old student, Lee Seung‑ho, used 5x leverage to turn 20 mln KRW into 300 mln KRW (≈ $202,500) and lost the gains within four weeks, saying “I can hardly breathe.” High housing costs—an average worker needs 14 years of full wages to buy a Seoul home—and limited traditional wealth pathways are driving young Koreans into leveraged stock apps. Last Thursday the government banned new single‑stock linked leveraged ETFs. Retail holders of leveraged products face asymmetric downside: in volatil

A 24‑year‑old student, Lee Seung‑ho, used 5x leverage to turn 20 mln KRW into 300 mln KRW (≈ $202,500) and lost the gains within four weeks, saying “I can hardly breathe.” High housing costs—an average worker needs 14 years of full wages to buy a Seoul home—and limited traditional wealth pathways are driving young Koreans into leveraged stock apps. Last Thursday the government banned new single‑stock linked leveraged ETFs. Retail holders of leveraged products face asymmetric downside: in volatile markets leverage accelerates losses much faster than gains.