South Korean shares traded lower late Friday morning but pared part of their earlier losses on the back of net purchases by retail investors.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 8.91 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,352.76 as of 11:20 a.m.
Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 0.94 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix up 0.45 percent.
Hyundai Motor rose 0.35 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded 0.43 percent higher.
POSCO, the No. 1 steelmaker, declined 0.45 percent.
Naver, the operator of the country's top Internet portal, rose 0.39 percent.
The local currency was trading at 1,141.35 won against the US dollar, down 4.15 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)
