Tashkent, Feb. 9 -- Watching the business news first thing in the morning is a new routine for 12-year-old South Korean Kwon Joon, as he dreams of becoming the next Warren Buffett after earning stellar returns of 43% from a hobby picked up just last year: buying stocks.

Kwon pestered his mother to open a retail trading account last April with savings of 25 million won ($22,400) as seed money, just as the benchmark KOSPI index began recovering from its biggest dip in a decade. "My role model is Warren Buffett. As a value investor, my dream is making long term profits so that I can help neighbours in need," said Kwon, who rode the steepest jump by year-end among MSCI's country indexes.

South Korea's rookie investors like Kwon, who pursues...