South Korean shares retreated late Monday morning from the previous session, tracking an overnight decline on Wall Street.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 19.98 points, or 0.84 percent, to 2,361.71 as of 11:20 a.m.

Most large caps traded lower, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics falling 1.61 percent and global chipmaker SK hynix losing 1.03 percent. Naver, the operator of the country's top Internet portal, slipped 5.31 percent.

Financial and steel shares, however, were in positive terrain, with Shinhan Financial adding 0.8 percent and Posco, the No. 1 steelmaker, up 1.09 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,125.5 won against the US dollar, down 0.2 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)