SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- Stock market manipulators likely started the unsubstantiated rumors about an explosion at North Korea's nuclear facilities that caused the benchmark stock price index to fall sharply last month, police said Monday.

Police have narrowed down a list of potential suspects who are believed to have reaped huge profits from the stock market plunge on Jan. 6, according to the Cyber Terror Response Team at the National Police Agency.
On Jan. 6, the benchmark key stock index closed down 1.11 percent after declining as much as 2.12 percent at one point. The local currency depreciated 0.88 percent to the greenback.