The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dived 83.69 points, or 5.34 percent, to settle at 1,482.46. Trading volume stood at 636 million shares worth 9.5 trillion won (7.5 billion U.S. dollars).
The index started 5.9 percent lower and extended losses to decline as low as 6.9 percent in early trading.
Six minutes after the opening bell, a sidecar was activated in the KOSPI to suspend computer-programmed trading for five minutes. It is imposed when stock futures fluctuate more than 5 percent for at least a minute.
The small-cap KOSDAQ plummeted 23.99 points, or 5.13 percent, to close at 443.76. The sidecar was issued in the KOSDAQ 17 minutes after the market opening.
The resumed stock crash came as fears resurfaced over the global economy that may sink into a recession due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The KOSPI and the KOSDAQ jumped 7.4 percent and 9.2 percent each on Friday.
Market watchers forecast that volatility would last in the global financial market until the COVID-19 outbreak slows down across the globe.
The South Korean currency tumbled against the dollar as foreign investors kept dumping local stocks for the 13th consecutive trading day.
The won/dollar exchange rate soared 20.0 won to finish at 1,266.5 won per dollar, after jumping as high as 1,282.5 won in early trading.
Bond prices declined as foreigners sought safer assets. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes gained 4.6 basis points to 1.153 percent, and the return on the 10-year government bonds picked up 10.7 basis points to 1.718 percent.
Most large-cap shares lost ground. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics retreated 6.4 percent, and memory chip giant SK Hynix declined 7.2 percent. The most-used search engine Naver dipped 7.1 percent, and leading chemical firm LG Chem lost 1.7 percent.
Samsung BioLogics, the biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group, added 1.4 percent, and biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion advanced 14.8 percent.
By industry, the textile, brokerage, construction and distribution sectors lost ground, but the pharmaceutical and insurance industries gained ground.
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