Woman in her 30s loses W80m in stock trades, considers calling off wedding

A woman in her 30s who lost 55 million won ($38,600) in wedding funds through stock investment — and then borrowed an additional 30 million won only to lose most of that too — is now weighing whether to call off her engagement.

The story, posted Friday on Blind, a workplace community app, drew widespread attention. The woman, identified only as A, is set to marry next spring.

A said she had put roughly 55 million won into stocks — money she had saved over three years at work combined with funds from her parents — and lost it all.

"For nearly two years I was making 3 million to 5 million won a month and thought I was good at investing, but it turned out I was just lucky," she wrote. "Last year's market downturn and the war left me unable to control my emotions. After cutting my losses, I tried to recover by day-trading momentum stocks with what was left, and ultimately got wiped out."

Hoping to recoup her losses, A took out an additional loan of 30 million won, telling herself she would grow the wedding fund. She lost 25 million won of that as well, leaving her with only 5 million won on hand. Her monthly loan repayment stands at 470,000 won, while her take-home pay is around 3.2 million won a month.

Compounding her distress is the fact that while her boyfriend knows she lost the wedding fund, he is unaware she also took on 30 million won in debt. Consumed by guilt, A said she has already asked him to break up with her several times, but he has refused each time.

"I don't understand why such a decent guy who works at a major conglomerate would be with someone like me," she wrote. "I feel so sorry for him that I'd rather let him go. If I were on my own I think I could pay it off in a year, but I just can't bring myself to tell him."

Readers who came across the post largely urged A to come clean rather than simply propose a breakup. "You shouldn't just announce a breakup — you need to tell him about the debt too and let him make his own decision," one commenter wrote. Another said it was ultimately the boyfriend's call whether to stay or go. A third offered a more measured take: "If she hands over control of the finances and doesn't do anything reckless again, it's not really an amount worth breaking up over."