South Korean stocks opened lower on Monday, forcing regulators to trigger a second consecutive sell-side sidecar as investors reacted to last week's losses on Wall Street.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, fell 0.7%, or 49.89 points, to open at 7,443.29. The Kosdaq also decreased by 7.25 points to open at 1,122.57.
The Kospi at one point dropped more than 5% to 7,142.71.
The Korea Exchange activated a five-minute sell-side sidecar on the country's primary stock market on Monday morning amid the selloff.
The Korea Exchange announced the order at 9:19 am after the KOSPI200 Futures declined 60.24 points, or 5.1%, to trade at 1,112.46.
The selloff comes amid growing concerns about inflation linked to the fragile ceasefire deadlock between the US and Iran. The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that a drone strike had triggered a fire outside the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant's inner perimeter in Abu Dhabi. Emirati authorities are investigating the origin of the attack, with the defense ministry reporting that three drones entered the UAE from the western border direction.
Oil prices rose over 1% after the drone attack, with Brent crude up 1.24% to $110.62 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate gaining 1.75% to $107.26 by late Sunday.