Korean shares traded lower late Thursday morning, but pared part of earlier losses on a continued rise in Samsung Electronics, the country's top market cap.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 1.88 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,013.58 as of 11:20 a.m.

Large caps traded mixed with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 0.26 percent.

Major chipmaker SK hynix rose 0.78 percent, and POSCO, the country's leading steelmaker, dropped 1.37 percent.

Naver, the operator of the country's top Internet portal, rose 0.58 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.39 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,142.10 won against the U.S. dollar, down 1.2 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)