retail investors

Korea’s Market Hit Its Brakes 45 Times This Year. Nobody Outside Korea Is Counting.

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Bar chart of KOSPI sidecar triggers by calendar year. 2008, the global financial crisis year, had 26. All of 2025 had 3. 2026 through August 5 has 45, split 23 sell-side and 22 buy-side. A side panel notes that 9 of the 15 KOSPI circuit breakers ever recorded since December 1998 happened in 2026, or 60 percent. Figures are from the Korea Exchange as cited in the Korean press.

Korea stopped program trading 45 times in 2026 – 23 on the way down, 22 on the way up – against 26 in all of 2008. Nine of the 15 KOSPI circuit breakers ever recorded fired this year. A guide to Korea’s three-layer brake system: the sidecar, the circuit breaker, and the 30 percent daily price limit that has no US equivalent.