Japanese, South Korean stock markets drop

From the Wall Street Journal:

Japanese and South Korean stocks dropped at the open of Asian trading Friday, tracking heavy losses in the U.S., as investors worried about the global economy and Europe's debt crisis.

The Nikkei Stock Average fell 3.5% in the first minutes of trade to 9319.57. Korea's index slumped 4% to 1937.17, the lowest since March.