How leveraged chip ETFs magnified Korea’s market swings

Earlier this year, South Korea emerged as the world's best-performing stock market as an artificial intelligence-driven memory chip boom propelled the country's top chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to record highs.

The chip rally, however, quickly unraveled as investors grew concerned that Big Tech companies would scale back AI infrastructure spending.

The two chip giants have since fallen more than 30 percent from their peaks, dragging down the benchmark Kospi.

Yet what stood out was ...