The KOSPI sank below 8,000 on July 2. The drop pushed the Korea Exchange (KRX) to activate a sell-side sidecar within minutes of the opening bell.
The Korea Exchange suspended program trading on KOSPI-listed shares for five minutes. Heavy selling in semiconductor stocks drove the move. The benchmark opened 4.46% lower and kept falling from there.
Another Halt in a Record-Breaking Year
The index had dropped 534.25 points, or 6.43%, to 7,769.16 by 9:51 a.m. local time. A sell-side sidecar triggers automatically once KOSPI 200 futures fall 5% or more for at least one minute.
Thursday’s pause is far from an isolated event. The exchange has repeatedly triggered sidecars and circuit breakers throughout 2026. Volatility this year has already topped the 2008 financial crisis, when the KOSPI set its prior annual sidecar record of 26 halts.
By late June, the KRX had logged close to 30 sidecar activations and five circuit breakers this year alone. Both figures already beat that 2008 tally.
Chipmakers Bear the Brunt
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together make up roughly half of the KOSPI’s market capitalization. The two chipmakers have repeatedly driven these swings. Their shares extended losses again Thursday, tracking a global chip stock selloff that started on Wall Street overnight.
The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.66% Wednesday. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF lost 5.4%. Micron Technology and Sandisk each dropped more than 10%. The rout followed weeks of sharp reversals in the KOSPI’s chip-driven rally, a rally that had pushed the index to record highs earlier this year.
Semiconductor stocks still dominate the index. Traders now face a familiar question: will Thursday’s selloff deepen further, or fade as quickly as prior swings have this year.