South Korea’s Financial Services Commission held an emergency meeting on Thursday and said it is ready to activate contingency plans after the KOSPI closed down 7.57%. SK Hynix fell 11.06% and Samsung Electronics lost 9.48%. FSC Commissioner Lee Won-geon chaired the 2:30 p.m. session. The regulator said the pace of the decline looked excessive and pledged strict action against false rumours, market manipulation and illegal short selling. The KOSDAQ hit a Level 1 circuit breaker at 12:23 p.m., and the KOSPI followed at 12:38 p.m. after dropping 8% to 5,528.05. It was the first time both indices were halted on the same day since July 29. Foreign investors sold a net KRW 2.9 trillion, extending their selling streak to eight sessions.