Asian stock markets fall sharply at opening, South Korea's Kospi drops 6.2%

Things are really bleak in South Korea, where the Kospi is down a whopping 6.2 percent.

Things are also falling in Japan, where the Nikkei 225 is down 1.3 percent and the Topix is down 0.2 percent.

Shanghai is down 1.1 percent and Shenzhen by 1.2 percent.

The Hong Kong-based Hang Seng is down 0.4 percent.