South Korean stocks plummeted more than 8 percent on Monday, leading to a temporary halt in trading on the Kospi and Kosdaq markets. Investors were driven by concerns that the US economy might be heading towards a recession. The Kospi market lost a record 190 trillion won ($139 billion), dropping 8.77 percent and closing at 2,441.55, marking its largest decline in history. The Kosdaq also fell by 11.3 percent to close at 691.28. The Korea Exchange activated a circuit breaker on the Kospi for 20 minutes when it dropped by as much as 8.1 percent. Despite efforts to prevent panic selling, shares slid further to over 10 percent immediately after trading resumed. This marked the first time the Seoul stock market had activated a circuit breaker in over four years. The market reaction was considered "excessive" by some analysts, who pointed out that a recession had not actually occurred and that the US still had the potential to cut its key rates. The downward trend in Korean stocks was part of a wider global market decline, with major indices in Asia, such as Japan's Nikkei 225, also experiencing significant drops. The US Department of Labor's announcement of lower-than-expected job growth and higher-than-expected unemployment rate further fueled concerns about the US economy's health and the potential for a recession.