The KOSPI index appears on the dealing room board at Hana Bank in Jung District, Seoul, on the morning of the 8th as trading opens with a plunge that triggers a circuit breaker. /Courtesy of News1

On the 8th, the KOSPI plunged more than 8% early in the session, triggering a circuit breaker that halted stock trading for 20 minutes.

Korea Exchange (KRX) said that from 9:03:42 a.m. for 20 minutes, a level-1 circuit breaker was triggered to halt trading transactions on the main board.

A circuit breaker halts all market transactions for 20 minutes by stage, or until the close, if the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes fall 8%, 15%, or 20% or more from the previous session and stay there for one minute.

During that time, trading transactions in all issues listed on the main board are temporarily halted, and trading in stock-related futures and options markets is also suspended.

The KOSPI opened at 8,048.09, down 112.50 points (1.38%) from the previous trading day, and early losses are widening. As of 9:20 a.m., it fell 683.13 points (8.37%) to 7,477.46, losing the 8,000 level compared with the previous trading day.

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