South Korean equities opened sharply lower on Monday, June 8, with the KOSPI falling 8.37 percent to 7,477.46 within minutes and activating a circuit breaker that halted trading for 20 minutes. The KOSDAQ market also saw a sell-side sidecar activated, suspending trading for five minutes. The declines followed Friday losses on Wall Street and coincided with the South Korean won reaching a 17-year low against the U.S. dollar.