A few days ago, the Korean F4 meeting wasn’t about discussing a rescue plan—it was about 'cleaning up the battlefield' Even though the market expected a rate hike, the question is, why did they choose to implement it right after retail investors got liquidated? On July 13, the Korean stock market saw a single-day liquidation of 344.2 billion KRW, with 1.2 million leveraged accounts hitting margin call thresholds and over 300,000 retail investors losing all their principal. Just three days later, the rate hike arrived. On Tuesday, KRX institutions and foreign capital were already net buyers, while only retail investors were selling. In other words, retail investors were just liquidated two days ago, and now the rate hike comes along—it’s hard not to imagine this as a way to 'clean up the battlefield,' forcing retail investors to give up the remaining chips in their hands through the rate hike, making them obediently hand over their positions. At the beginning of July, I was already warning everyone that the market wasn’t looking good and kept reminding everyone to set stop-losses and not hold onto losing positions. Sometimes, you really feel the ruthlessness of the market. Only by staying at the table can you wait for the next opportunity.