South Korean government launches '24-hour monitoring' in response to biggest stock market crash ever and Middle East tensions

The South Korean presidential office said that with South Korea's composite stock price index KOSPI and other indexes recording their biggest ever declines and tensions in the Middle East rising, "the government and related agencies are working with a special sense of urgency around the clock."
"We are monitoring market developments and will respond closely in accordance with our contingency plans if necessary."
A senior White House official said on the 5th, "Since the latter half of last week, there have been concerns about a slowdown in the U.S. economy, and major U.S. companies
"The combination of factors, including the worsening business performance of stock exchanges and profit-taking following the previous rise in stock prices, is causing a major adjustment in global securities markets, including Japan's," the report said.
The South Korean government is responding to the severe situation by holding multiple meetings every day. On the morning of the 5th, the Financial Services Chairman held a meeting to inspect financial risks, and in the afternoon, the Financial Services Committee and the Financial Supervisory Service held a meeting.
An emergency review meeting was held jointly by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Strategy and Finance, Choi Sang-mok, the Governor of the Bank of Korea, the Chairman of the Financial Services Agency, and the Financial Supervisory Service, to review the market situation.
The meeting will include a discussion on the current macroeconomic and financial situation, with the participation of the head of the central bank. A senior official said, "We will analyze the market conditions in major countries, such as the United States and Europe, last night, and take measures to stabilize the market if necessary.
"We plan to hold a comprehensive discussion on measures to determine the outcome of the negotiations," he said. President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is currently on vacation, was also reported to have received a status update from his chief of staff, Song Tae-yoon.
The KOSPI index fell 234.64 points (8.77%) from the previous session to close at 2,441.55, marking its biggest drop ever since October 2008.
This was the largest figure in 16 years since the 24th of this month (a 10.57% drop). The KOSDAQ index also fell 88.05 points (11.3%) from the previous session, closing at 691.28.
The sharp drop in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes led to the activation of sidecars and circuit breakers one after another during trading.