SEOUL, June 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's stock market opened sharply lower Monday morning, with the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) tumbling below the 8,000 level and dropping more than 8 percent to around 7,400 points shortly after trading started.
By 9:04 a.m. local time, the index had dropped 683.13 points, or 8.37 percent, to 7,477.46.
The sharp decline triggered a circuit breaker on the KOSPI, temporarily halting program trading for 20 minutes as authorities sought to curb volatility.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also tumbled, shedding 75.14 points, or 7.50 percent, to 927.30, falling below the 1,000-point mark amid broad-based selling pressure.
