South Korea's Kospi plunges 8% as global AI selloff halts trading

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index plunged 8% on Thursday, triggering a 20-minute trading halt, as a global selloff in semiconductor shares hit the market hard. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics each sank more than 9%, while the Nikkei 225 fell over 5% in Tokyo. The rout spread across Asia, with Taiwan's Taiex dropping over 3% and China's chip-heavy Star 50 index hitting its lowest level since April. The selling was driven by hotter-than-expected US inflation and distress signals from AI firm CoreWeave's bonds. Foreign investors sold $1.8 billion of Kospi shares on Thursday morning and over $10 billion in October, with the index heading for its lowest close since early April.