South Korea shares retreat on AI concerns, set for longer trading hours

Stocks in South Korea slid on Monday, with the benchmark KOSPI down 138.96 points, or 2.01 per cent, standing at 6,770.95 at 02:51 GMT, Business Recorder reported, citing Reuters. The fall came after Anthropic PBC and OpenAI both raised concerns about the pace of artificial intelligence development.

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei urged AI companies to slow model development and laid out a three-step framework meant to give more room to handle risks. The call came as worries about AI misuse grew. The won firmed, the benchmark bond yield declined, and Samsung Electronics dropped 2.12 per cent while SK Hynix lost 4.19 per cent.

Korea Exchange will open an evening session between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time from Sept. 14, following a similar step by the rival venue Nextrade, which began evening sessions in March 2025. Foreign investors recorded net selling of 2,284.8 billion won ($1.70 billion) in shares. Of the 913 issues traded, 539 declined and 332 advanced. Onshore, the won stood at 1,344.0 per dollar, while the 10-year yield eased 4.7 basis points to 4.524 per cent.