Kospi seesaws during Constitutional Court's Yoon impeachment announcement

Korea’s benchmark index Kospi markedly rebounded above the 2,500 threshold at around 11 a.m. during the Constitutional Court's 22-minute announcement of its verdict upholding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, but took a downturn shortly afterward.

The Kospi, which opened more than 1 percent lower than the previous session on Friday, took an upturn and reached 2,506.71 at 11:13 a.m., up 0.8 percent from Thursday’s close, as the court’s upholding of the impeachment became increasingly apparent.

However, the Kospi again turned sharply downward shortly after and stood at 2,462.74 as of 11:56 a.m., down 23.95 points, or 0.96 percent.

The won-dollar exchange rate, which opened sharply lower that day due to the greenback’s weakening fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement, further declined to the 1,430 won per dollar level. As of 11:22 a.m., the won was quoted at 1,436.30 per dollar. 

The Constitutional Court decided to impeach Yoon for imposing martial law on Dec. 3 at 11:22 a.m. 

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]