Korea's bourse operator on Thursday activated a sell-side sidecar for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) as the stock index plunged. Program trading for the KOSPI-listed shares was suspended for five minutes at 10:16 a.m., according to the Korea Exchange (KRX). After opening 1.82 percent lower, the KOSPI surrendered 265.65 points, or 4.67 percent, to 5,418.15 as of 10:16 a.m. The index came under downward pressure following the Democratic Party's victory in the U.S. midterm elections, raising concerns over tighter regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. A sell-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures Index falls 5 percent or more for at least one minute.