South Korean shares traded lower late Wednesday morning, pressured by a sell-off by foreign investors.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 20.40 points, or 0.98 percent, to 2,054.81 as of 11:20 a.m.

Most large caps traded in negative terrain with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 1.29 percent, and global chipmaker SK hynix down 0.56 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.08 percent, while its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded 0.14 percent higher.

POSCO, the No.1 steelmaker, also declined 0.93 percent.

Naver, the operator of the country's top Internet portal, fell 1.12 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,145.85 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1.55 won from the previous session's close.

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