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South Korea’s KOSPI fell 10.84% on July 28 as investors sold major semiconductor stocks across Asia. The index closed at 6,023.66 after falling more than 8% earlier in the session, triggering a temporary circuit breaker.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the fall as investors worried about high AI stock prices and growing competition from China.
Samsung and SK Hynix Lead KOSPI Crash
SK Hynix, a major memory chipmaker, dropped 14.7%, while Samsung Electronics fell 14.4% in its largest daily decline since October 2008. Together, the two chipmakers make up more than half of the KOSPI, so their losses pulled the wider index down sharply.
The KOSPI fell as much as 11.3% during trading and briefly moved below 6,000 for the first time since April 14. The circuit breaker was activated for the eighth time this year, temporarily stopping trading after the market crossed the 8% loss level.
Foreign investors sold a net 5 trillion won, or about $3.42 billion, of South Korean shares. Retail investors bought around 4 trillion won, but only 36 of the 917 traded companies finished higher.
China’s Semiconductor Gains Raise AI Market Risks
The selloff worsened after Chinese memory-chip company ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, made a strong stock market debut. Its shares jumped 466% on their first trading day before falling 4% in the following session.
Investors were also reacting to reports that China had begun producing its own advanced deep-ultraviolet chipmaking equipment. The development raised concerns that Chinese companies could compete more strongly with leading South Korean and global semiconductor manufacturers. Mirae Asset Securities analyst Kim Seok-hwan said:
“The market’s concern lies less in CXMT’s current earnings and more in its potential for accelerated capacity expansion.”
Selling Pressure Reaches Asian Stocks and Crypto
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 4%, while Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 4.7% as TSMC shares lost 3%. Shanghai’s Composite declined 1.2%, although Hong Kong and Australia recorded small gains.
The weaker risk sentiment also reached cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin traded near $63,354, down about 2.7%, after falling as low as $63,054 during the session. Ethereum traded near $1,625 as investors moved away from tech-related and other risky assets.
The KOSPI has now fallen about 29% in July and 34% from its June peak. However, the index remains around 43% higher since the beginning of 2026 after its earlier AI-driven rally.
