As of 0251 GMT, the main KOSPI was down 2.07 percent at 1,426.28 points, after U.S. lawmakers rejected a $700 billion bailout plan for the financial sector.
The index opened 4.97 percent lower at 1,383.97 points.
**KIA MOTORS UP ON WEAKER WON, STRONG SALES**
Shares in Kia Motors Corp, the country's No.2 carmaker, bucked the market downturn to rise 2.81 percent to 14,650 won, touching a 52-week high, on a weaker South Korean Won and a rosy sales outlook.
"The recent boom in small car markets, coupled with the weaker won currency, will help Kia Motors," Yong Dae-in, an analyst at Hanwha Securities, said in a report.
Affiliate Hyundai Motor Co gained 1.24 percent to 73,500 won.
0254 GMT
(Reporting by Park Ju-min; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
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