Signal Korean chip stocks plunge amid global AI investment doubts

Summary

South Korea's KOSPI index plunged 10.8%, triggering multiple trading halts, with shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix falling more than 10-14%. The sell-off was driven by growing skepticism about the sustainability of global AI infrastructure investment, compounded by news that a Chinese firm had begun mass production of immersion DUV lithography equipment. Commentators say the episode exposed the structural vulnerability of a Korean market heavily concentrated in a handful of AI-semiconductor companies.