On the 4th, as the situation in the Middle East intensified due to the war between the United States and Iran, the won·dollar exchange rate and the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices are displayed in the dealing room at Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. That day, the KOSPI opened at 5592.59, down 199.32 points (3.44%) from the previous session, and a sell-side sidecar was triggered on consecutive days. Reporter Moon Jae-won

On the 4th, amid consecutive sharp declines in the KOSPI, a circuit breaker that halts all trading on the KOSPI market for 20 minutes was triggered.

On this day, the Korea Exchange announced that at 11:19:12 a.m., a circuit breaker was activated on the KOSPI market. A circuit breaker is a measure that suspends trading in all KOSPI-listed stocks, excluding bonds, for 20 minutes when the KOSPI falls 8% or more from the previous day and that condition persists for one minute. After it is lifted, orders are collected for 10 minutes and matched at a single price. At the time it was triggered, the KOSPI stood at 5322.16, a plunge of 469.75 points (8.11%) from the previous close.

This is the seventh time a circuit breaker has been triggered on the KOSPI market. It is the first activation in about 19 months since August 5, 2024.