South Korea's Stock Market Triggers Sidecar Mechanism 21 Times in July, Exceeding 2008 Crisis Record

According to Korea Exchange, South Korea's stock market triggered its sidecar mechanism (automated program trading halt) 21 times in July alone, with 12 activations on the KOSPI market and 9 on KOSDAQ over 18 trading days. The annual total has reached 66 activations year-to-date, surpassing the 2008 financial crisis record of 45 in just seven months.

Experts attribute the surge to the mechanism's outdated design, unchanged since 2002, which fails to address high-frequency trading and leverage ETFs prevalent in today's markets. Professors note that the fixed 5% volatility threshold no longer effectively contains market swings and suggest adjusting trigger levels to match current trading conditions.