SEOUL: South Korean shares fell on Friday and were set to log a second week of decline as the nation's parliament discussed the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol for trying to impose martial law.
The won weakened, while the benchmark bond yield fell.
The benchmark KOSPI was down 23.46 points, or 0.96 per cent, at 2,418.39 as of 0412 GMT. For the week, the index declined 1.5 per cent.
Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.37 per cent and peer SK Hynix lost 3.76 per cent, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.44 per cent.
Hyundai Motor shed 0.49 per cent and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 0.74 per cent, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were down 0.74 per cent and down 0.11 per cent, respectively.
South Korea's ruling party leader said on Friday President Yoon Suk Yeol needs to be removed from authority for trying to impose martial law, but stopped short of urging members to vote for impeachment.
South Korea's special warfare commander said he will refuse to implement any new order for martial law, media reports quoted him as saying.
South Korea's foreign exchange authorities are believed to have sold U.S. dollars on the onshore market early on Wednesday to limit a decline in the won, two dealers said.
Of the total 937 traded issues, 143 shares advanced, while 764 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 74.1 billion won on the main board.
The won was quoted at 1,418.6 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.09 per cent lower than its previous close at 1,417.3.
In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,418.6 per dollar, down 0.4 per cent, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,416.9.
The KOSPI has fallen 8.92 per cent so far this year, and lost 5.4 per cent in the previous 30 trading sessions.
The won has lost 9.2 per cent against the dollar so far this year.
In money and debt markets, December futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.06 point to 106.77.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 0.9 basis points to 2.618 per cent, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 0.8 bps to 2.736 per cent.