KOSPI Plunges Over 4% Following Reports of "Iran Attacking U.S. Military Base in Middle East" (Updated)

Stock Market Plummets on News of Iranian Attack on U.S. Military Base in the Middle East
Concerns Over Bank of Korea's Possible Rate Hike Also Reflected

The South Korean stock market is plummeting amid reports that Iran has attacked a U.S. military base in the Middle East.

As of 1:20 p.m. on May 28, the KOSPI stands at 7,848.73, down 4.64% from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ is trading at 1,067.75, a 5.77% drop.

The KOSPI, which started the session slightly lower, plunged around noon following foreign media reports that Iran had attacked a U.S. military base in the Middle East.

According to Iranian state media, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it had conducted a targeted strike on a U.S. Air Force base at around 4:50 a.m. local time that day.

The IRGC stated that it launched an immediate counterattack on the Air Force base—the origin of the earlier assault—after U.S. forces carried out additional airstrikes targeting Bandar Abbas in southern Iran earlier that morning.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps defined the U.S. attack as an “act of aggression” and stressed, “If such incidents are repeated, there will be a more decisive response, and the responsibility for the consequences will rest with the ‘aggressors.’”

Suh Sangyoung, researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, explained, “The South Korean stock market, which opened flat earlier in the session, is plunging as news broke that Iran’s IRGC launched attacks targeting U.S. air bases—including those in Kuwait—in retaliation for the U.S. strike near Bandar Abbas airport.”

He further analyzed that “one of the major reasons for the significant decline in the Korean stock market is the minority opinion for a rate hike announced by the Bank of Korea today and the resulting burden from rising government bond yields.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.