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The Kospi, the world's best-performing stock market this year, fell more than 5% on Wednesday and crossed into bear territory.
LSEG data show the South Korean benchmark now stands 20% below its June 19 record high, the threshold that defines a bear market by convention and by market consensus.
From year's best to a 20% drawdown The case for South Korean equities coming into this week rested on an unusually strong run. The index had climbed far enough to claim the world's top-performance title this year.
That distinction drew sustained attention to Seoul's exchange, and it raised the cost of any reversal: the higher and faster an index rises, the more exposed it becomes when sentiment shifts.
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