In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI rose 0.3 percent to 4,129.06 and tech-heavy KOSDAQ added 0.31 points to 919.87.
Samsung Electronics fell 50 Korean won to 111,450 won ($76.2), while SK hynix gained 0.9 percent to 589,500 won. LG Energy Solution rose 0.6 percent to 390,500 won. Samsung Biologics declined 1.2 percent to 1,699,000 won. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries slid 1.7 percent to 524,000 won, and Doosan Enerbility lost 0.8 percent to 77,000 won. Hanwha Ocean, which jumped more than 12 percent on Tuesday, dropped 1.8 percent to 121,200 won.
Auto stocks edged up with Hyundai Motor rising 2.4 percent to 294,000 won and Kia up 1.1 percent to 121,500 won.
Entertainment stocks, which surged sharply the previous day, pulled back. HYBE slipped 0.2 percent to 324,000 won, JYP Entertainment fell 0.6 percent to 71,800 won, YG Entertainment declined 0.3 percent to 66,000 won, and SM Entertainment edged down 0.3 percent to 127,300 won.
In the country's foreign-exchange market, the won was traded at 1,484.9 per dollar, up 1.3 won from the previous close. The rate dropped more than 20 won shortly after opening at 9 a.m., following verbal intervention by authorities.
Officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea said in a statement aimed at stabilizing markets, "The weak won against the greenback is not desirable."
After the comments, the won strengthened sharply to 1,465.5 per dollar at 9:05 a.m., and extended its gains to 1,458 per dollar by 9:40 a.m.
The ministry also announced a couple of measures to address the recent surge in the won-dollar exchange rate. Under the plan, individual investors who sell overseas stocks and reinvest the proceeds long-term in the domestic stock market will receive temporary capital gains tax relief.
The government will also introduce new forward exchange products for retail investors and provide additional tax deductions for those who hedge foreign exchange risk through forward contracts. In addition, domestic parent companies will face lower tax burdens on dividends received from overseas subsidiaries.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.4 percent to 50,615.25. Japanese shares rose, but top market-cap stocks showed mixed results. The six largest stocks by market value all fell together.
Toyota dropped 0.7 percent to 3,390 yen ($21.8). Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 0.8 percent to 2,494 yen, and SoftBank Group declined 1.4 percent to 17,495 yen. Sony slipped 0.9 percent to 4,032 yen, Hitachi edged down 0.1 percent to 5,004 yen, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group lost 0.3 percent to 5,112 yen. Tokyo Electron rose 2.2 percent to 33,740 yen, and Advantest gained 1.7 percent to 20,000 yen.
In China, the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 2.62 points to 3,881.72, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 5.95 points to 25,754.06.
All stock markets around the world will be closed for Christmas on Thursday.
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