The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) plunged more than three percent on Monday to end at its lowest point in more than two years. 

The main bourse shed 69-point-06 points, or three-point-02 percent, closing the day at two-thousand-220-point-94.

It's the lowest since July 27, 2020, when the KOSPI ended the day at two-thousand-217-point-86. 

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ lost five-point-07 percent to close at 692-point-37, down 36-point-99 points. It dropped below the 700 mark for the first time in over three years, last doing so on June 15, 2020.

On the foreign exchange, the local currency weakened 22 won against the dollar, ending the day at one-thousand-431-point-three won. 

Soon after the opening bell, the rate surpassed the one-thousand-420 won per dollar to end the trading day beyond the one-thousand-430 mark for the first time in 13-and-a-half years.

The continuing depreciation of the local currency is mainly fueled by investors' preference for the greenback, given the U.S. Federal Reserve’s intention for further monetary tightening aimed at containing high inflation in the U.S. 

The strengthening of the dollar also continues due to economic uncertainties abroad, including the protracted Russian war on Ukraine, the energy crisis in Europe and China’s economic slowdown.