Seoul shares slip; Chinese falls, comments weigh

* KOSPI sheds 0.67 pct

* KOGAS, Daewoo International outperform on investment news

(Updates to close)

By Jungyoun Park

SEOUL, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Seoul shares lost ground on Tuesday
with falls led by some tech and auto issues, as sharp losses in
Chinese stocks and bearish comments by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
weighed on market sentiment.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index .KS11 (KOSPI)
finished down 0.67 percent at 1,601.38 points.

"Market sentiment turned sour as Chinese stocks headed South
and after Wen's rather bearish comments on the Chinese economy,"
said Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities.

Premier Wen said on Tuesday China would maintain its
stimulative policy stance because the economy, far from being on
solid footing, was facing fresh difficulties. [ID:nPEK369995]

Declines were led by key technology and auto names that
underwent strong recent rallies.

Kia Motors (000270.KS), South Korea's No.2 automaker, fell
3.72 percent, and LG Electronics (066570.KS), the world's No.3
handset maker, lost 3.07 percent.

But LG Display (034220.KS) the world's No. 2 liquid crystal
display (LCD) maker, recouped earlier losses to rise 2.55 percent
after confirming it had signed a non-binding agreement to build
an LCD panel plant with the city of Guangzhou, China, a deal
mentioned in an earlier media report. [ID:nSEL000749]
[ID:nSEO42635]

"According to some of the numbers mentioned in the newspaper
report...it sounds like LG Display is going very aggressively at
Chinese market," said Chang Jeong-hoon, an analyst at Samsung
Securities.

Shares in Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) (036460.KS) gained 1.93
percent after the company said on Tuesday a consortium it was
participating in led by Daewoo International (047050.KS) would
invest a combined $5.6 billion to produce and distribute gas in
Myanmar. Daewoo International ended flat, outperforming the
broader market.

Shares in Korean Air Line (003490.KS) advanced after South
Korea's top air carrier said on Tuesday it expected an increase
in international passenger traffic in September.

"The average number of reserved seats on international routes
in September is up 21 percent from the same period last year,
whereas overall supply of seats has increased 9 percent," Korean
Air Line said in a statement.

"Improving load factors and a potential rebound in second
half, 2009 yields could be key catalysts for (Korean Air)
stocks," Goldman Sachs said in a not on Tuesday, reiterating its
target price of 48,000 won on Korean Air shares.

Shares in Korean Air rose 0.86 percent to 40,950 won.

A spike in crude prices, which briefly touched a 10-month
high near $75 a barrel on Thursday, boosted energy issues.

SK Energy (096770.KS) ended up 3.63 percent and GS Holdings
(078930.KS), the holding company of South Korea's No.2 crude
refiner GS Caltex, rose 0.87 percent.