Shares in South Korea plummeted, while the Korean won also slipped, after the White House announced that the ongoing Vietnam summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday had been cut short with no agreement reached.

The Kospi in South Korea dropped 1.76 percent to close at 2,195.44 while the Kosdaq tumbled 2.78 percent to finish its trading day at 731.25. Shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics and chipmaker SK Hynix fell 3.53 percent and 5.02 percent, respectively. Shares of companies with potential exposure to North Korea were also hammered, with Hyundai Elevator diving 18.55 percent.

The Korean won slipped 0.42 percent to about 1,121.90 against the dollar after seeing an earlier high of 1,115.80, as of 3.05 p.m. HK/SIN.

Elsewhere in Asia, mainland Chinese stocks were mixed on the day, with the Shanghai composite declining 0.44 percent to close at 2,940.95, while the Shenzhen component advanced 0.290 percent to finish its trading day at 9,031.93. The Shenzhen composite rose 0.351 percent to close at 1,546.33.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down more than 0.4 percent in its final hour of trading.

China's factory activity declined for the third consecutive month in February. The official Purchasing Manager's Index slipped to 49.2 in February, data showed on Thursday — its weakest since February 2016. The 50-point index mark separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.

Japan's Nikkei 225 and Topix both declined 0.79 percent to 21,385.16 and 1,607.66, respectively. Australia's recovered from earlier losses to end its trading day higher by 0.3 percent at 6,169.00.