South Korea's KOSPI plunges 5% as AI stock selloff hits Samsung and SK Hynix

South Korea's KOSPI index plunged over 5% on Friday, triggering emergency trading measures as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares collapsed amid a renewed selloff of AI-related stocks. The benchmark fell 5.13% to 5,633.34 by 10:25 am in Seoul. Samsung lost about 5% and SK Hynix nearly 8%, prompting the Korea Exchange to temporarily pause programmed sell orders after futures crashed. The selloff followed another tech decline on Wall Street, with foreign investors selling heavily. Record profits at both memory chip giants failed to convince investors that the AI spending boom can sustain current earnings. The pressure originated in the US, where Alphabet shares fell 12.6% Thursday after heavy AI investments pushed its free cash flow negative. Foreign investors sold 553.7 billion won of stocks by mid-morning, while institutions offloaded 240.9 billion won. Analysts question whether datacenter investments will deliver adequate shareholder returns, despite strong current chip profits.