[Weekly Kyunghyang] Mr. A, a jobseeker in his early 30s living in Seoul, said he is “preparing for the licensed realtor exam.” “I plan to earn the realtor credential and join an appraisal firm. If I work about five years as an assistant, the first-stage certified appraiser exam is waived. My goal is to work as a certified appraiser.” After graduating high school, Mr. A joined a small company in the Seoul metro area but quit. The pay was meager and night shifts were frequent. There were times he was looked down on for being a high school graduate. After completing his military service, he entered university later and graduated two years ago. He now lives on money earned from part-time jobs. “I even canceled OTT (over-the-top video service) and scrimp on living expenses, but it’s still tight. I have to pay rent, and I still have 5 million won left on my student loan….”

The day we met Mr. A was January 28. The KOSPI climbed above 5,100 for the first time ever, and the KOSDAQ broke past 1,100 for the first time in about 26 years since the ‘dot-com bubble’ of August 2000. But to him, it was someone else’s story. Mr. A does not own a single share. “Was it five years ago? IPO subscriptions were hot. I knew nothing and just followed a friend who knew stocks, subscribed to an IPO, sold it that day, and made 400,000 won. It was amazing to earn that much by selling a single share. Now I don’t have money or information, so I don’t invest. I have friends who are high school grads and friends who are college grads. The ones from prestigious universities all seem to invest in stocks. The high school grads hardly do. They’re barely making ends meet.”

Despite entering the ‘KOSPI 5,000 era,’ the real economy remains cold. For a jobseeker like Mr. A, even more so. According to a January 22 release from the Bank of Korea, real GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 was -0.3% quarter-on-quarter (advance estimate). How are private economic agents, especially households, facing the ‘KOSPI 5,000 era’? Weekly Kyunghyang spoke with jobseekers, interns and small and medium-sized enterprise workers, the self-employed, and farmers to ask about their ‘wallet situations.’

“Money is tightwhat would I use to buy stocks?”

Ms. B, a woman in her mid-20s interning at a company in Seoul, said, “With the economy sluggish, I don’t even consider expensive items,” adding, “I’ve increasingly been buying inexpensive yet satisfying products.” This is the so-called ‘lipstick effect,’ a term that originated from the surge in lipstick sales during the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s.

“For me, that’s keyrings. I recently had a reason to visit Gyeongju. On Hwangnidan-gil in Gyeongju, they sell limited-edition Miffy character keyrings. They’re 15,000 won, and I just couldn’t resist. I think the current craze for ‘Dujjonku (Dubai chewy cookie)’ is similar. You feel satisfied eating a 5,000-won Dujjonku sold at a cafe near the office. But it’s gone up to 7,000 won now. Dessert costs add up.” Dujjonku, a dessert made by mixing toasted kadaif (a Middle Eastern vermicelli) and pistachio cream into marshmallow dough, has seen prices keep rising as demand surges and the weak won drives up import costs for ingredients such as pistachios.

When asked whether she uses savings accounts or invests in stocks, Ms. B replied, “I have a housing subscription account, three shares of Samsung Electronics, and one share of Nvidia.” “I bought a little Samsung Electronics because I thought the Lee Jae Myung administration would keep supporting it. I bought in the 90,000-won range last October and made a bit. I bought Nvidia around the same time, but it had already risen a lot then, so it’s nothing special. I worry that the domestic stock market has jumped so fast that the bubble might burst, but semiconductor names still seem likely to rise. I’m thinking I should buy them little by little.”

Ms. C, a woman in her early 30s living in the Seoul metro area, earns around 40 million won a year. She is getting married this May and said she is currently looking for a newlywed home on a jeonse lease in the metro area adjacent to Seoul. In the area she wants, jeonse deposits for apartments in the 20-pyeong range are around 300400 million won. “I need to take out a jeonse loan, but apartment deposits are high and the interest is a burden. If I look for a cheap villa, I’m worried about falling victim to jeonse deposit fraud. With wages not rising and so many expenses, with what money would I buy stocks?”

By contrast, Mr. D, a man in his 40s in Seoul who said he “started investing in the domestic market in earnest last year,” said he “made quite a bit of money with swings.” Swing trading refers to an approach that seeks profit by holding stocks for only about one to two weeks after purchase to ride the price trend.

“I bought Samsung Electronics in the 120,000-won range and made about a 30% return, about 10% on Ecopro, and around 20% on POSCO. I profited on KEPCO KPS, Hyundai Mobis, and Gaonchips too. All with swings. Prices are extremely high these days. It’s only because the stock market is good that I can get by. You should try investing too. Nuclear-related stocks will likely be fine.”

He also said, “The current KOSPI isn’t a bubble.” “It’s not because I like Lee Jae Myung; it’s about allowing undervalued domestic stocks to be properly vaued so that people can practically make money through equities instead of real estate. That’s sound policy. I think even KOSPI 7,000 would be fine.”

Many say they feel a sense of deprivation

Ms. E, a woman in her 50s who runs a hair salon in Seoul, said, “I’ve kept my haircut price at 10,000 won for 20 years.” “My regulars are employees of nearby garment factories. Most are day laborers. Knowing their situations so well, I can’t raise my haircut price.”

But since late December last year, her sales have fallen by half. “Regulars who used to come twice cut it to once. If they make ten garments, they only earn for ten; if there are no orders, they can’t even go to work, and clothing orders have visibly decreased lately. Customers who used to get dye or perms now only get haircuts,” she said. A friend who ran a nearby salon closed for lack of customers. Instead, she pays Ms. E a daily fee and serves her own clients at Ms. E’s salon.

At least last September and October, many customers used livelihood-recovery consumption coupons, making for good earnings. “During the first and second rounds of livelihood coupons, families would come together to get their hair done. Customers said, ‘Since it’s money that came in anyway, I should finally get the hair I always wanted,’ ‘Since I’m out already, I should also go dine out.’ At our shop, perms are 60,000 won and dye is 50,000 won. Many customers got both. The economy is so bad this year that I’d welcome a third round of coupons.”

Seeing Samsung Electronics surge recently, she bought 40 shares around 140,000 won apiece. “Today I saw I was up 400,000 won. I’d earn more from stocks than from working. If I had the money, I’d want to do even more. It makes me wonder, ‘Is this right?’it’s bittersweet.”

Mr. F, who runs a restaurant in Gwangju Metropolitan City, said, “People say the Seoul metro area is struggling, but the regional economy is worse,” and continued: “In Gwangju’s Pyeongdong and Hanam industrial complexes, there are many first- and second-tier vendors that make parts for Samsung Electronics appliances. These are the people who earn and spend money locally. But for several years now, the order volumes from large companies like Samsung have shrunk, so many have closed down. Two factory owners I know recently decided to shut down. If factories are closing, how would restaurants like mine hang on? People in Gwangju don’t pretend not to be struggling. They have pride, and even if money is tight, they go out to eat good food. For dining-out in Gwangju to have withered like this means people truly have no money to spend.”

Mr. G, a man in his 40s who runs a dairy farm in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, raises 100 dairy cows. Dairy farms feed hay such as oat hay and alfalfa, all of which are imported. “The exchange rate has risen too much, and there’s no way to keep up with feed costs,” he said. “Six months ago, feed was in the 500-won range per 1㎏, then it went up 10 or 20 won each month, and now it’s in the 600s. Compared with before, I spend 3 million won more a month on feed.”

The decline in domestic milk consumption is another concern. Dairy companies allocate ‘quotas’ to farms and pay regular prices within quota volumes, but milk beyond the quota is taken at bargain prices. In Mr. G’s case, the company pays 1,200 won per 1ℓ for milk within the quota, but only 100 won per 1ℓ for volumes outside it. As milk consumption falls and even remaining demand shifts to cheaper imported UHT milk, companies have been cutting quotas each year. With tariffs on U.S. and European UHT milk dropping to 0% from this year, some expect the pace of quota cuts to accelerate. Mr. G said, “It seems increasingly hard to make a living from farming.”

Many of those we met at Weekly Kyunghyang said, “It doesn’t seem like the economy will improve this year.” Not a few said they felt envy and a sense of deprivation as they watched stock indices soar. When asked what they wanted to request of the Lee Jae Myung administration, we heard answers like, “I wish housing prices would come down” (Ms. C), “I wish there were benefits for people who faithfully repay their loans” (Ms. E), and “I wish there were support for companies that sustain their regions” (Mr. F). Jobseeker Mr. A put it this way: “I wish I could simply be paid properly for the work I do.”