The KOSPI plunged 5 to 6 percent in early trading, triggering a sidecar, a temporary suspension of program sell quotes.

The Korea Exchange activated the sidecar to suspend program sell quotes on the main bourse for 5 minutes, triggered by fluctuations in the KOSPI 200 futures index at 9:06:02 AM today (the 19th).

At the time of activation, the KOSPI 200 futures index stood at 1,013.26, down 65.00 points, or 6.02 percent, from the previous trading day's close.

The sell sidecar on the main bourse is triggered when the KOSPI 200 futures index plunges by 5 percent or more and the state persists for 1 minute.

As of 9:09 AM, the KOSPI index stood at 6,472.61, down 5.78 percent from the previous session.

The KOSDAQ index fell 2.46 percent to 813.69.

The KOSPI subsequently widened its losses, tumbling down to the 6 percent range.

Samsung Electronics was trading down 6.89 percent at 250,000 won.

SK Hynix was changing hands down 8.36 percent at 1,523,000 won.

(Photo: Yonhap News)