76.7% of Office Workers 'Engage in Financial Investment'
Increasing Number of 'Donghak Ants' Jumping into Stock Investment
Experts Say "A Survival Strategy Against an Uncertain Future"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] # Office worker A (25) started investing in stocks little by little since her internship days. Although the amount is not large, she sets aside a certain amount without fail on payday for future stock investments. A said, "I don't have a strong conviction to achieve big goals like buying a house or saving for marriage through investing, but I enjoy investing as a hobby because I find it fun to steadily grow even a small amount." She also said, "Even though I am still a newcomer to society, I think it's good to invest little by little for the future. There are many difficult parts and times when I feel scared, but once I started, I became very interested, so these days I am studying through YouTube videos." A plans to continue investing in stocks steadily while working in her job.
There is a craze for financial investment among office workers. Especially, as more office workers jump into stock investment, the neologism 'Donghak Ant Movement' has emerged, and the stock market movements are active mainly among the 20s and 30s generations.
According to a survey conducted on the 3rd by the employment portal JobKorea and Albamon targeting 593 office workers on the 'current status of financial investment,' 76.7% of all respondents were found to be engaged in financial investment.
Respondents answered that their financial investment methods were 'savings-type financial products such as savings and deposits (73.2%/multiple responses)' and 'stock investment (50.1%/multiple responses),' ranking first and second respectively. Other answers included 'investment-type financial products such as funds (23.1%)' and 'real estate (7.5%)' as financial investment methods.
In particular, the percentage of respondents who answered that they do 'stock investment' doubled compared to 27.3% in 2018. Among them, the percentage of office workers in their 20s increased significantly from 16.0% in 2018 to 56.1% this year.
Interest in financial investment itself was also found to be high. When asked about the 'degree of interest in financial investment,' 54.1% of respondents answered 'high,' recording a majority, 36.4% answered 'average,' and only 9.4% answered 'low.'
Members of the Korea Stock Investment Association held a press conference in front of the Blue House fountain on the afternoon of the 23rd of last month, urging to maintain the current major shareholder capital gains tax threshold at 1 billion won. Photo by Yonhap News
Regarding this stock investment craze, the neologism 'Donghak Ant Movement' has recently appeared. This term likens the phenomenon where the domestic stock market stagnated after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) this year, and individual investors bought up stocks sold by foreigners, to the 'anti-foreign movement' of the Donghak Peasant Revolution.
'Donghak Ants' are buying stocks massively against institutions and foreigners. Relatedly, the Ministry of Economy and Finance recently maintained the 'stock major shareholder requirement at 300 million won' but decided to keep the current 1 billion won standard due to strong opposition from individual investors known as 'Donghak Ants.'
Earlier, the Democratic Party and the Ministry of Economy and Finance had been negotiating since the end of September to lower the major shareholder capital gains tax threshold on listed stocks from '1 billion won' per stock to '300 million won.' Individual investors strongly opposed this, and on September 2, a petition titled 'Please abolish the major shareholder capital gains tax' was posted on the Blue House petition board, gaining 216,844 signatures.
In response to these demands, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki stated at the National Assembly Planning and Finance Committee plenary session on the 3rd that the major shareholder capital gains tax threshold on stocks would be "maintained at 1 billion won as it is," leading to reactions that 'Donghak Ants have won.'
Experts say this stock investment craze is another way of survival. Professor Kim Tae-gi of Dankook University's Department of Economics explained, "Recently, the 20s and 30s generations have been jumping into stock investment and becoming Donghak Ants because they do not feel stability in their jobs and feel uncertain about the future."
He added, "Even office workers who are not in their 20s and 30s are trying to secure additional income through stock investment, especially this year, as many have faced restructuring due to COVID-19, leading to income reduction."
Professor Kim continued, "Also, with the major industrial transformation and platforms becoming advanced technology, technology and growth stocks are emerging," adding, "It seems that the desire to increase returns through investing in these areas in line with social changes is growing."
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