The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) tumbled 70-point-31 points, or two-point-42 percent, on Tuesday, closing the day at two-thousand-839-point-01.

It marks the lowest closing so far this year with the index' decline driven by selling by foreign and institutional investors amid growing concerns over the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron. 
 
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also fell, losing 26-point-71 points, or two-point-69 percent, to close at 965-point-63.

On the foreign exchange, the local currency strengthened five-point-one won against the dollar, ending the day at one-thousand-187-point-nine won.