Nikkei opens down 0.3%, Kospi falls 3% as Samsung, SK Hynix slide

The divergence is the story: a modest Nikkei dip against a 3% Kospi drop points to memory-chip exposure as the pressure point rather than a broad regional risk-off move. Samsung and SK Hynix carry far more weight in Seoul's index, so their slide is doing most of the damage to Korean sentiment. For crypto and RWA readers, the read-through is sentiment, not mechanics — Asian tech weakness can feed risk appetite across adjacent markets. Whether the memory names stabilize through the session, or drag the wider region with them, is the open question.