On Tuesday, South Korea's KOSPI plunged more than 6% intraday, falling below the 6000-point mark, and a group of South Korea's best-performing individual retail investors sold off shares of leading Korean chip companies such as Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SSNLF) and SK hynix (SKHY).

At the same time, they bottom-fished heavily beaten-down names such as LG Electronics and APR.

Data from Mirae Asset Securities as of 11 a.m. on the 13th showed that among the top 1% of retail investors by returns over the past month, SK hynix (SKHY) was the stock with the largest net selling volume. At that time, SK hynix (SKHY) shares were trading at 1,464,000 won, down 8.79% from the previous session. The stock's decline widened further amid an across-the-board drop in U.S. chip stocks overnight and heavy foreign selling of Korean equities.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SSNLF) ranked second in net selling volume, with its shares down 7.58% at 231,500 won at the same time. Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 9.55% and ranked third in net selling volume; it was followed by Doosan (-7.94%) and Shinil Electronics (-5.59%).

The top ten net selling list also included: Hanwha Solutions (-8.41%), EO Technics (-6.07%), Hanmi Semiconductor (-12.47%), Sungho Electronics (-3.91%), and Simmtech (-9.23%).

Chip-related stocks such as SK hynix (SKHY), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SSNLF), Hanmi Semiconductor, EO Technics, and Simmtech dominated the list.

This phenomenon indicates that as the semiconductor selloff spreads, even the investors with the best trading track records are choosing to trim positions to manage risk.

Large-scale foreign net selling also weighed on the broader Korean market. The KOSPI plunged more than 6% intraday and lost the 6000-point level. At 9:47 a.m., KOSPI 200 index futures fell sharply, triggering a seller-side sidecar mechanism, temporarily halting program sell orders. This was the first time the seller-side sidecar had been triggered in about two months.

In contrast, LG Electronics was the stock with the largest net buying volume among top retail investors. As of 11 a.m., its shares were down 6.33% at 173,000 won. APR ranked second in net buying volume, plunging 17.19% to 291,500 won. Sunic System (-5.15%), STI (-2.41%), and SK Square (-11.99%) also ranked among the top net buys.

The rest of the top ten net buying list included: EcoPro BM (-8.56%), Mirae Asset Securities (-5.46%), Alteogen (-5.40%), Samsung Securities (4.59%), and Samsung SDI (-8.20%).

The data shows that this group of top traders collectively sold chip stocks while bottom-fishing in some deeply corrected names.