( LEAD ) Seoul stocks end lower on foreign selling ( ATTN : ADDS bond yields at bottom ) SEOUL , Jan . 22 ( Yonhap ) -- South Korean shares ended lower Monday on foreign and institutional selling . The Korean won fell against the U . S . dollar . The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 18 . 15 points , or 0 . 72 percent , to fall to 2502 . 11 . Foreigners sold a net 176 billion won ( US $ 164 million ) worth of stocks on profit - taking , weighing on the main index . Institutional investors offloaded a net 72 billion won worth of stocks . Park Chun - young , an analyst at Daishin Securities Co . , said the decline is blamed on recent tax revisions that would levy heavier capital gains taxes on foreign stock investors . The finance ministry has announced tax code changes -- set to take effect in July -- to collect capital gains tax from foreign investors who own more than 5 percent stakes in locally listed companies . The previous threshold was 25 percent . Non - resident foreign investors and overseas companies are subject to the taxes . The finance ministry said the changed measure would affect only a limited number of foreign investors whose countries do not have tax agreements with South Korea . For nations that do have agreements with South Korea , the principle is for investors to be taxed in their country of residence , the ministry said . Kim Ye - eun , an analyst at IBK Securities Co . , said the U . S . government shutdown has worsened investor sentiment . Large - cap stocks had mixed fortunes across the board . Among the gainers , top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co . rose 0 . 31 percent to 162 , 500 won , and Naver , the operator of South Korea ' s top Internet portal , was up 1 . 36 percent to 893 , 000 won . Market bellwether Samsung Electronics Co . fell 2 . 19 percent to 2 , 412 , 000 won , and SK hynix , a major chipmaker , shed 3 percent to 71 , 100 won . The local currency closed at 1 , 070 . 10 won against the U . S . dollar , down 4 . 20 won from the previous session ' s close . Bond prices , which move inversely to yields , closed lower . The yield on three - year Treasurys rose 3 . 3 basis points to 2 . 203 percent and the return on benchmark five - year government bonds gained 1 . 8 basis points to 2 . 461 percent . entropy @ yna . co . kr ( END )