Weighed down by the overnight plunge in U.S. stocks, the KOSPI opened down 8.8%, triggering a circuit breaker, while the Nikkei 225 fell below the 60,000 mark. During the session, the KOSPI breached the 5,000 threshold and triggered a 20-minute trading halt, dragged down by steep drops of over 10% in both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The Nikkei 225 fell below 60,000 for the first time since May, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 1.9% intraday.