South Korea's benchmark KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices plunged upon trading on Monday amid rising concerns over an economic slump in the United States, leading to an activation of sidecar curbs to halt program trading.

As of 1 p.m. Monday, the KOSPI lost 177-point-53 points, or six-point-63 percent, from the previous day of trading to two-thousand-498-point-66.

The Korea Exchange activated the sidecar curbs at around 11 a.m. for five minutes after the KOSPI 200 futures index dropped over five percent compared to standard prices for over a minute.

As of 1:01 p.m., the second-largest, tech-heavy KOSDAQ also shed 53-point-24 points, or six-point-83 percent, from the previous day to 726-point-09.

Earlier, shares on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted following weak performance in the U.S. manufacturing sector and news of jobless claims hitting a one-year high.