Korean shares traded lower late Tuesday morning, on losses in automakers and some tech stocks.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 9.1 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,012.01 as of 11:20 a.m.

Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 0.53 percent.

Global chipmaker SK hynix shed 2.29 percent, and POSCO, the country's leading steelmaker, dropped 3.29 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.14 percent, and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors traded 0.85 percent lower.

In contrast, Naver, the operator of the country's top Internet portal, rose 0.56 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,140.00 won against the U.S. dollar, down 3.6 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)