Seoul: Seoul shares experienced a slight decline in late morning trading during the first session of 2025, as investors offloaded blue-chip stocks amidst the political unrest tied to the impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk Yeol. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) registered a decrease of 5.56 points, or 0.23 percent, landing at 2,393.93 by 11:20 a.m.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean financial market has been facing challenges due to the political turmoil that followed President Yoon's brief declaration of martial law on December 3, leading to the impeachment motion against him. The state anti-corruption agency is anticipated to proceed with a warrant to detain President Yoon for questioning as early as Thursday, after a Seoul court approved the warrant in a criminal case involving insurrection charges.

The uncertainty has hit major blue-chip stocks, with chipmakers and battery shares seeing significant losses. Notably, Samsung Electronics saw a decrease of 0.94 percent, while LG Energy Solution dropped by 0.72 percent. Steel and chemical shares also faced declines, with POSCO Holdings falling by 1.38 percent and LG Chem slumping by 3 percent.

Conversely, financial stocks showed resilience, with KB Financial surging 1.57 percent and Shinhan Financial edging up by 0.52 percent. Meanwhile, the local currency was trading at 1,469.90 won against the U.S. dollar, marking an increase of 2.60 won from the previous trading session.