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Seoul stocks open sharply lower on U.S.-China trade tensions

Published: 13 Oct. 2025, 10:43

People work inside the dealing room in Hana Bank in central Seoul on Oct. 13. [YONHAP]

Korean stocks opened sharply lower on Monday, amid renewed trade tensions between the United States and China.

The Kospi fell 53.77 points, or 1.49 percent, to 3,556.83 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Overnight, President Donald Trump had tried to calm fears of escalating tensions with China in a post on social media, saying that economic troubles with China will "all be fine" and that the United States "wants to help China, not hurt it."

His comments came hours after Beijing said it was "not afraid" of a possible trade war, warning it could take retaliatory measures against Trump's threats to impose new tariffs on Chinese imports.

On Friday, Trump said he will impose a 100 percent tariff on China, as well as export controls on "any and all critical software," in response to new export controls Beijing imposed on rare minerals.

Rare minerals are essential for high-tech industries, including defense and semiconductors, and around 70 percent of the global supply comes from China.

The spat between the world's largest economies rattled the U.S. stock market on Friday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq went down 3.56 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.9 percent.

In Seoul, most large cap shares were trading lower.

Market top-cap Samsung Electronics shed 2.75 percent, and its rival SK hynix dipped 4.44 percent.

Battery maker LG Energy Solution retreated 0.56 percent, defense giant Hanwha Aerospace inched down 0.19 percent, and major portal operator Naver declined 2.24 percent.

In contrast, ship making shares were in positive territory, with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries adding 1.36 percent and Hanwha Ocean moving up 1.28 percent.

The local currency was quoted at 1,426.8 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.41 percent from 1,421 won from the previous session's close.

Yonhap