Chip stocks were mixed. Samsung Electronics rose 1.6 percent to 290,500 won (about 188 dollars), while SK hynix fell 1.1 percent to 2,163,000 won (about 1,398 dollars). The KOSPI 2.18 percent to 7,281.39.
The overnight catalyst was a US chip rout, where the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell as much as 6 percent, its worst two-session stretch since early June, as investors questioned stretched AI valuations. That would normally hit Samsung and SK hynix hardest, yet only one of the pair moved with the tape.
Foreign investors sold a net 847.8 billion won of KOSPI shares in early trade, the pressure point behind the index decline.
The KOSDAQ fell harder, dropping 3.4 percent to 836.87 as smaller growth names bore the brunt of the risk-off move.
SK square, the largest shareholder in SK hynix, sank 4.8 percent to 1,452,000 won (about 939 dollars), extending the drag through the SK chip complex.
Samsung's outperformance sat against broad selling elsewhere in its own group, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics down 7.1 percent and Samsung SDS-linked names among the session's weaker large caps.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 opened lower and extended losses, trading around 67,821.89 for a drop of 1.3 percent, as the same US tech weakness carried into Japan and pushed the index back below 68,000 for the first time in four sessions.
The won weakened, with the dollar quoted at 1,546.50 won, up 4.00, according to Hana Bank data at 9:24 a.m.
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