This year, the domestic stock market has seen numerous activations of sidecars and circuit breakers, leading investors to declare that "the stock market itself is completely broken."
On July 13, various online communities shared data summarizing the dates of circuit breaker activations in the KOSPI index throughout history.
The shared images included information on circuit breaker activations from 2000 to 2026, detailing the causes and daily declines. Notably, the data highlighted significant market crashes, including the 2000 dot-com bubble burst, the September 11 attacks in 2001, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and concerns over a U.S. recession in 2024, alongside this year's activation instances.
This year, circuit breakers were triggered on several occasions, including March 4 (following the outbreak of war between the U.S. and Iran), March 9 (as the conflict escalated), June 8 (amid fears of U.S. interest rate hikes and a drop in semiconductor stocks), and on June 23, June 26, and July 7.
Additionally, the activation history of sidecars this year has drawn attention. The sell-side sidecar was first activated on March 3, followed by activations on March 5, 10, 18, 24, April 1, 8, May 6, 11, 21, June 9, 12, 15, 25, and July 3 and 10 for buy-side sidecars.
Conversely, sell-side sidecars were activated on March 23, April 2, May 15, 18, June 5, 10, and July 2, 8, and 13, causing the market to experience rapid fluctuations in a short period.
As this information circulated online, reactions included sentiments such as "regardless of rises or falls, the market itself has collapsed."
In particular, comments from male-dominated communities expressed that "the stock market has turned into a scene of unprecedented fear and speculation," and noted that "leveraged products have amplified volatility," while questioning whether the market adjustments were politically motivated, stating, "the volatility is worse than during martial law," and concluding that "if this continues, people will ultimately turn to real estate for profit."
Conversely, female-dominated communities also expressed unusually critical views.
Netizens voiced concerns, stating, "there's no solution or pattern; it's just gambling," and suggested that "compensation for stock market losses should be provided to all citizens," while lamenting that "the exchange rate is crashing, and the stock market is in chaos," and predicting that "such volatility will inevitably lead to a change in government."
Some investors remarked, "now, volatility itself is scarier than corporate performance," and noted that "the market has become difficult to navigate with long-term investments," describing the current situation as a "gambling environment" where chasing after surges and cutting losses during drops has become the norm.
Meanwhile, a sidecar is a system that temporarily halts program trading when futures prices fluctuate significantly. A circuit breaker is a mechanism that temporarily suspends trading in the entire stock market when prices drop beyond a certain threshold. Both systems are designed to mitigate market overheating and panic, but their repeated activation this year indicates a significant increase in volatility within the domestic stock market.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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