South Korean parents are ramping up efforts to give their children a head start in building long-term wealth by opening investment accounts even before they learn to crawl out of their cribs. Brokerage accounts of kids under the age of one have nearly tripled from a year ago to about 15,000 in June at Mirae Asset Securities, the country's largest brokerage by market cap. New accounts openings for those under 9 have soared nearly 60% to around 185,000, the brokerage said, excluding duplicate accounts. Jae-joon Woo, professor of economics at DePaul University, told CNBC that parents will continue to open investment accounts for their children even if markets become more volatile. The phenomenon is here to stay "as long as equity investing—whether in Korea or overseas markets—is viewed as a reliable way to build long-term wealth," Woo said.