Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Monday called for intensive monitoring of the financial market against heightened volatility amid fears of a recession in the United States and elsewhere, his office said.Choi made the remarks during a meeting with ministry officials, as South Korean shares have dropped sharply tracking U.S. losses over a disappointing U.S. jobs report and the subsequent concerns about a recession.The Korea Exchange activated sidecar trading curbs on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) market to halt program trading for five minutes from 11 a.m. after the index tumbled more than 5 percent.As of noon, the KOSPI had fallen 5.51 percent, or 147.35 points, to trade at 2528.84."Volatility in the global financial market has widened greatly due to concerns over a slowdown in the U.S. economy and other factors," Choi said."We need to be on alert and maintain a round-the-clock monitoring system in close cooperation with relevant agencies," he added.Last week, U.S. shar es fell markedly for a second session on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 1.5 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declining 2.43 percent.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has hinted at a policy rate cut at the September meeting, but experts say that it should have acted earlier given the weaker-than-expected jobs report.Early Monday, deputy minister-level officials of the ministry, the Bank of Korea and other financial institutions held a separate meeting to check the market situation and discuss responses.The participants pledged "to maintain an intensive joint monitoring system with high vigilance and to cooperate closely with related agencies in accordance with the contingency plan if necessary," the ministry said.The government will also strive to strengthen the fundamentals of the capital and foreign exchange markets through corporate value-up programs and other projects and to bolster the external safety net, it added.Source: Yonhap News Agency