* Retail investors known locally as 'ants' for their

collective behaviour

* Bought record 7 trillion won of stocks on Monday even

as KOSPI slumped

* Average daily trading volume topped 40 trillion won for

first time in March

* Many Koreans turn to stocks as AI threatens traditional

employment

By Jungmin Ryu and Cynthia Kim

SEOUL, March 27 (Reuters) - Twenty-four-year-old Kim

Min-sung's gruelling schedule begins with intensive classes at

Seoul's Korea Foreign Language University followed by late

nights at the library as he prepares for the notoriously

competitive national diplomatic exam, a traditional path to a

lucrative, secure foreign-service career.

Even so, Kim squeezes in as many side gigs as he can - math

tutoring or running deliveries - to fund his other

preoccupation: day trading. And he uses his final hours before

bed every night mapping out investment strategies or modelling

stock valuations.

He is far from alone.

South Korean retail investors - known locally as "ants" due

to their collective behaviour - have piled into the domestic

stock market in droves since January, and turbo-charged a

world-beating doubling in the benchmark KOSPI over six months as

it rallied to an all-time peak on February 27, the day before

war broke out in the Middle East.

Subsequent volatility has been unprecedented, with the index

plunging 12% on March 4 - the biggest daily loss ever. But

instead of cashing out, the nation's 14 million ants have

doubled down, with average daily trading volume vaulting beyond

40 trillion won ($26.7 billion) for the first time this month.

On Monday of this week alone, retail investors bought a

record 7 trillion won worth of stocks, even as the KOSPI slumped

6.5%.

The individual motivations behind the fervour vary, but

there are common strands. Analysts point to growing worries that

the rise of artificial intelligence could ultimately dismantle

the traditional model of regular, stable employment income,

spurring a race to head that off with profits from investment.

That's certainly the case for Kim, who started trading as

soon as he reached legal adulthood at 19.

"I have two trading accounts," he explained, "one to make

seed money to buy a property one day, and the other is for more

aggressive investing to hopefully FIRE (Financial Independence,

Retire Early) sooner than later."

Kim says he's unfazed by this month's volatility as the

return on his "aggressive" account is still above 75%.

South Korea's active stock trading accounts reached a record

101.8 million at the end of February, figures from the Korea

Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) show.

And the ants command considerable firepower. Their combined

deposit balance soared to an unprecedented 132 trillion won on

March 4, up almost 70% from the end of last year, according to

KOFIA data.

South Korea's retail investors regularly account for up to

60% of daily turnover, according to Korea Securities Depository

data, about double that of retail investors in the U.S.

The stocks frenzy has been further catalysed by President

Lee Jae Myung, who has pledged sweeping financial reforms since

taking office in June.

And his view that money should be redirected to stocks from

housing - where it has long been concentrated rather than

productively invested - has resonated with the nation's youth,

who have been priced out of the property market after decades of

steep housing inflation.

Jessica Chung, a 42-year-old office worker in the Pangyo

area of Seongnam just south of Seoul, said that her workplace

has the atmosphere of a "gambling house" this month, with all

the banter from the pantry to the powder room about stock

trading.

Some analysts caution against overenthusiasm amid the

geopolitical uncertainty.

"If the Iran war drags on, Korea's real economy will

inevitably be undergoing significant disruption," said Seo

Sang-Young, a market strategist at Mirae Asset Securities Co.

"That's the biggest risk investors should consider."

Kwon Soon-kuk, a 34-year-old full-timer at a retail company

in Seoul, used this month's selloff to buy more stocks at a

discount.

"The biggest keyword here, I think, is uncertainty. The

world is uncertain," said Kwon, who checks images of marine

traffic in the Strait of Hormuz on Telegram to gauge war-related

risks for his portfolio.

"I don't know when I'll stop getting paychecks, so my plan

is to buy more shares for my children."

($1 = 1,499.40 won)