The Korea Exchange temporarily suspended stock trading Monday morning as the country's two markets dipped sharply amid mounting fears over the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trading was halted on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index at 9:06 a.m. for five minutes after it plummeted by more than 5 percent.
After that sidecar was activated, a separate trading halt was issued for the tech-heavy KOSDAQ at 9:17 a.m. as it also suffered a sharp plunge.
The KOSPI lost 97 points, or 6.2 percent, to 1,469 as of 9:55 a.m.■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
