ROK stocks close lower on Friday

The stocks of the Republic of Korea (ROK) closed lower on Friday.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 324.11points, or 6.02 percent, to close at 5,059.69.

The KOSPI fell by more than 8 percent at one point during intraday trading, triggering a market circuit breaker and pushing the index below the 5,000-point mark.

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ Index lost 34.14 points, or 5.03 percent, to finish at 644.27 points.

Communist Party of China (CPC) senior official Cai Qi met with a delegation led by Kim Song Nam, a member of the Political Bureau, secretary and international department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), in Beijing on Friday.

Cai, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said that General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping successfully paid a state visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in June, leading the development of China-DPRK relations into a new historical stage.

China is willing to work with the DPRK to implement the important consensus reached by the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries, strengthen high-level guidance, carry forward traditional friendship and deepen mutual learning of party governance, Cai said.

China is further ready to expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields, enhance strategic communication and coordination, contribute to the steady and long-term development of the socialist cause of the two countries, and promote regional peace, stability, development and prosperity, Cai added.

Kim Song Nam said the profound friendship and strategic guidance of the top leaders of the two parties and the two countries are the solid foundation and inexhaustible driving force for the continuous development of relations between the DPRK and China.

He congratulated China on the successful convening of the fifth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and said the DPRK stands ready to further enhance inter-party exchanges and cooperation with China.