Seoul shares turn higher late Tuesday morning amid tariff woes

This photo shows a dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

South Korean stocks turned higher late Tuesday morning, after starting marginally lower, amid woes ahead of the country's tariff negotiations with the United States later this week.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had added 3.58 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,492 as of 11:20 a.m.

Overnight, Wall Street lost ground as President Donald Trump ramped up criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying the U.S. economy could slow down unless the Fed immediately lowers its interest rate.

Seoul investors' eyes are now on South Korea's tariff negotiations with the U.S., slated for later this week in Washington.

South Korea was slapped with 25 percent reciprocal tariffs earlier this month, though the U.S. paused their implementation for 90 days.

In Seoul, market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.36 percent, and chip giant SK hynix pulled back 0.96 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor dropped 0.11 percent and its sister Kia went down 0.57 percent.

On the other hand, major defense firm Hanwha Aerospace rose 0.84 percent.

Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy jumped 3.41 percent and its rival Hanwha Ocean gained 1.54 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver soared 3.15 percent and Kakao, the operator of the country's dominant mobile messenger, went up 1.16 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,425.5 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 6.4 won from the previous session.