Hong Seok-cheon SNS

Actor and television personality Hong Seok-cheon expressed shock at the stock market plunging overnight, just ahead of the wedding of his adopted daughter.

On the 4th, on social media, Hong Seok-cheon posted a photo of the moon along with the message, “Last night I made a wish to the moon; perhaps I should have wished for stocks not to fallthis morning they tanked.”

He added, “I wished for health, but it feels like a heart attack is coming,” revealing his regret over the plunging market.

The KOSPI closed the day at 5093.54, down 698.37 points (12.06%) from the previous session. As concerns about military conflict between the United States and Iran spread, global financial markets contracted, affecting the domestic stock market as well. The decline exceeded the level on September 12, 2001 (immediately after the U.S. 9·11 attacks, 12.02%).

During the session, sell-side sidecars were first triggered on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, but the loss did not ease. At 11:16 a.m. on the KOSDAQ and 11:19 a.m. on the KOSPI, a ‘circuit breaker’ was activated on each, halting trading for 20 minutes.

A ‘circuit breaker’ is a market-stabilizing mechanism that is triggered when there is a drop of 8% or more from the previous trading day. A simultaneous trigger on both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ is the first in 19 months since August 5, 2024, and the fourth since March 2020, when the impact of COVID-19 was severe.

On the SBS variety program ‘Same Bed, Different Dreams 2 - You Are My Destiny’, which aired on the 3rd, Hong Seok-cheon shared the news of the wedding of his adopted daughter. He adopted the child of his older sister, who divorced in 2008. On the broadcast, Hong said, “My daughter has turned thirty and is set to marry next January,” receiving congratulations from the cast.