South Korean stocks closed sharply lower Monday as investors dumped technology shares amid growing uncertainties in the semiconductor and artificial intelligence sectors. 

The South Korean won also weakened against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 43-point-08 points, or one-point-35 percent, Monday to close at three-thousand-142-point-93.

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also fell, losing eleven-point-91 points, or one-point-49 percent, to close at 785.

Samsung Electronics tumbled three-point-01 percent to 67-thousand-six won and SK hynix slid four-point-83 percent to 256-thousand won, weighed down further by new U.S. regulations that will require licenses to ship certain equipment to their China-based plants.

Other major stocks also retreated. 

Kakao dropped two-point-08 percent after prosecutors sought a 15-year sentence for its founder over alleged stock manipulation tied to the takeover of SM Entertainment. 

KB Financial and Shinhan Financial slipped one-point-02 percent and one-point-99 percent, respectively.