South Korea's KOSPI drops 7% as global chipmaker selloff deepens

South Korea's KOSPI index plunged 7.41 percent or 500.47 points to 6,253.81, triggering sidecar trading curbs that briefly halted programme trading on both KOSPI and Kosdaq. The selloff was led by memory-chip maker SK Hynix, which fell 10 percent after its ADRs hit a record low, while Samsung Electronics dropped 9.15 percent; the two chipmakers together account for over half of KOSPI's weighting. Sentiment was further pressured by Chinese advances, including the blockbuster market debut of ChangXin Memory Technologies and reports of a state-backed firm producing immersion DUV lithography equipment, raising concerns over future Chinese capacity in memory and chipmaking tools.