Seoul: Seoul shares fell by more than 2 percent Tuesday, snapping their five-day winning streak, as investors moved to take profit after a record-breaking run amid an impasse in peace negotiations between the United States and Iran. After rising as high as 7999.67 shortly after the opening bell, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 179.09 points, or 2.29 percent, to close at 7,643.15. The index fell as low as 7,423.11.

According to Yonhap News Agency, market watchers' eyes were on whether the KOSPI would reach the unprecedented level of 8,000 points Tuesday on the back of an extended rally of big-cap tech shares, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, created by artificial intelligence (AI) optimism. The index, however, lost ground on profit-taking sentiment and dimmed hopes over the end of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Earlier in the day, Trump said he is considering renewing "Project Freedom," an initiative aimed at helping guide stranded vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. He also said the ceasefire with Iran was on "massive life support," while calling Iran's peace offer a "piece of garbage." Remarks by Seoul's presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom on profit sharing of tech companies in the AI era also weighed down on investor sentiment. "The fruits from the AI infrastructure era are not generated by only a handful of companies," Kim wrote on social media, proposing what he calls a "national dividend system."