Holy crap, the South Korean stock market is going through the most violent and brutal liquidity collapse in its history. It’s not even 7 months into 2026, and the Korean Exchange has already triggered over 35 Sidecars (program trading halts) and 7 circuit breakers. What does that even mean? Back in 2008 during the Lehman crisis, the total number of Sidecars in South Korea for the entire year was just 26. In just over half a year of 2026, that record from the 2008 financial crisis has been completely crushed. The KOSPI Volatility Index has skyrocketed to the highest level in the market’s history. Today’s trading was another bloodbath: KOSPI plunged 5% in a single day, wiping out 260 trillion KRW (roughly hundreds of billions of USD) in market value, once again triggering a sell-side Sidecar without any suspense.