Amid escalating tensions surrounding Ukraine, the benchmark KOSPI shed 72 points by past noon on Thursday.

After opening the day's trading at two-thousand-689-point-28, down 30-point-25 points, or one-point-11 percent, from the previous day, the main bourse further plunged to two-thousand-645-point-84 as of 1:21 p.m.

The midday trading at one point fell to two-thousand-642-point-63, the lowest in nearly a month since the index posted two-thousand-614-point-49 on January 27.

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ, which opened eight-point-09 points lower at 869-point-24, further dropped to 849-point-85 as of 1:20 p.m.