SEOUL, June 23 (AJP) - South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI crashed nearly 10 percent, far outpacing declines in Japan and China as investors rushed to unwind positions after record-setting streaks.
The KOSPI fell 9.99 percent or record 910.71 points to 8,203.84, instantly wiping out gains of last seven trading sessions. The junior KOSDAQ plunged 7.94 percent to 891.52. Foreign and local institutions offloaded more than 4 trillion won worth on the KOSPI while retailers scooped them up with purchases of more than 8 trillion won.
A dual circuit breaker, a temporary cool-off, was triggered both markets.
The Korea Exchange suspended trading on the main bourse for 20 minutes starting at 2:33:43 p.m. after the KOSPI remained down more than 8 percent from the previous session’s close for one minute. It marked the fourth circuit breaker on the KOSPI this year and the 10th in history.
The sharp decline was attributed to weakness in U.S. technology stocks and the spread of global risk-off sentiment to the domestic market. Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.32 percent and the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index declined 0.37 percent. Investor sentiment weakened as profit-taking emerged in artificial intelligence-related stocks and concerns grew over a potential outflow of AI talent.
SK hynix fell 12.47 percent to 2.555 million won ($1,660), while Samsung Electronics dropped 12.31 percent to close at 310,000 won. SK hynix extended No.1 title on KOSPI. Its market capitalization stood at about 1,820 trillion won ($1.18 trillion), surpassing Samsung Electronics’ roughly 1,812 trillion won.
SK Square, the third-largest company by market capitalization, declined 7.01 percent to 1,832,000 won, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics, ranked fifth by market capitalization, fell 10.68 percent to 1,990,000 won. Hyundai Motor, the sixth-largest company by market capitalization, dropped 12.05 percent to 511,000 won.
The largest one-day decline in KOSPI history was the 12.06 percent plunge recorded on March 4, 2026, following the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war. The second-largest drop was the 12.02 percent fall on Sept. 12, 2001, immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It was followed by an 11.63 percent decline on April 17, 2000, during the collapse of the dot-com bubble, and a 10.57 percent fall on Oct. 24, 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 3.55 percent to 69,788.38.
Kioxia Holdings, Japan’s largest company by market capitalization and a NAND flash memory manufacturer, plunged 15.10 percent to 92,290 yen ($571.3). SoftBank, the fourth-largest company by market capitalization, fell 10.09 percent to 6,513 yen.
Toyota Motor, the second-largest company by market capitalization, declined 1.29 percent to 2,706 yen, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, ranked third by market capitalization, fell 1.98 percent to 3,276 yen.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.51 percent at 4,100.35 as of 4 p.m.
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