Korean stocks saw a sharp drop during the trading session on July 28, 2026, triggering the market circuit breaker mechanism.

After the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged more than 10% intraday, it triggered the first-level circuit breaker, with trading halted for 50 minutes—marking another extreme circuit breaker incident for the Korean stock market since the COVID-19 shock in 2020.
Latest market developments
As of around 10:15 that day, the KOSPI index fell to below 2700 points intraday, with the decline widening to as much as 11.2%, setting the largest intraday drop in nearly 6 years. Subsequently, the Korean Exchange activated the first-level circuit breaker in accordance with its rules, and trading in all stocks was suspended.
The Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) also saw a synchronized plunge, with an intraday drop exceeding 13%, which likewise triggered a temporary circuit breaker mechanism for the corresponding sectors.
The KRW/USD exchange rate also weakened sharply in tandem; the intraday depreciation exceeded 2.5%, to 1420 won per $1, hitting a new low in nearly two years.
Main triggers behind the market volatility
The direct trigger for this selloff was the transmission of external risks: on the prior trading day, the Nasdaq index in the United States closed down by more than 3%, sparking a chain reaction of global technology stock dumping. Korea, as a market highly dependent on semiconductor exports, became one of the hardest-hit areas—heavyweight tech stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix saw steep declines, with Samsung Electronics’ intraday drop reaching more than 15% at one point.
In addition, the market was concerned that the Bank of Korea might tighten monetary policy ahead of schedule, compounded by several consecutive days of heavy net selling of Korean stocks by foreign investors. In the early trading that day, the foreign investors’ net selling amount had already exceeded 3 trillion won, further amplifying bearish sentiment.
Future market response and outlook
The Financial Services Commission of South Korea subsequently convened an emergency meeting and announced that after the circuit breaker ended, it would launch market-stabilization measures, including expanding the scale of stock buybacks and loosening intraday trading limits for institutional investors.
Historical data show that after Korea’s stock market triggers a circuit breaker, the majority of the first day of the rebound typically sees a modest bounce as some bargain-hunting capital enters, but thereafter the trend will still depend heavily on the latest statements from the U.S. Federal Reserve regarding monetary policy and on how sentiment in the global technology sector recovers.