‘Braveheart’ or Gambling? Civil Servant Says He Went All-In on SK Hynix With $1.65 Million, Including $1.22 Million in Loans

Concerns are mounting over debt-fueled stock investing as South Korea’s Kospi rally gathers pace, with an online post from an investor claiming to have poured 2.3 billion won ($1.65 million) into SK Hynix, including 1.7 billion won ($1.22 million) in borrowed money, drawing widespread attention.

A person identifying himself as a civil servant uploaded a post on Blind, an anonymous online community for office workers, along with a screenshot of his account. The post read: “Let’s go all-in on 2.2 billion won of SK Hynix with margin loans.”

The image he shared showed concentrated purchases of SK Hynix shares through both a margin account and a cash account. In the largest holding, a standard margin account, he bought 1,327 shares worth 2.19013 billion won ($1.57 million), of which 1.69734 billion won ($1.22 million) was financed by a brokerage loan.

Standard margin lending allows brokerages to lend investors money to buy stocks and typically carries steep annual interest rates of 7% to 9%. It also comes with the risk of forced liquidation if the share price falls below a certain level. The investor appeared to have made the aggressive bet on the view that the semiconductor industry will keep trending higher.

His own capital amounted to 492.78 million won ($354,000), meaning he took on leverage equal to about 4.4 times his assets. His average purchase price was 1,650,438 won a share, and based on the current price of 1,647,000 won, he was sitting on an unrealized loss of about 4.56 million won ($3,300).

The investor also claimed he was the same person who previously went viral online as the “civil servant who invested 500 million won in Hynix.” He wrote that he started with 100 million won and made 900 million won over 11 months trading Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. From there, he said, he moved from an all-in 500 million won margin bet when the stock was at 620,000 won, to an 1.1 billion won all-in SK Hynix position, and now to a 2.2 billion won investment.

He wrote that he sees the semiconductor market trending higher through 2028, but is using an aggressive trading strategy to build wealth more quickly. Addressing suspicions that the post had been fabricated, he said he uploaded it on May 7, but the loan date appeared as May 11 because of the T+2 settlement rule in stock trading.

The high-risk trade has also intensified broader market concerns. Retail investors have recently been selling existing holdings and concentrating funds in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, driving a sharp increase in debt-backed buying tied to those stocks.

Kiwoom Securities said SK Hynix’s outstanding margin balance stood at 2.27 trillion won ($1.63 billion) as of May 6. That was up 156.8% from the start of the year and 437.4% from a year earlier.

Kim So-yeon, Hankyung.com reporter sue123@hankyung.com