South Korean stocks traded almost flat on Thursday following U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments that equity prices may be "highly valued" in a speech in Rhode Island on Tuesday.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) fell one-point-03 point, or zero-point-03 percent, on Thursday to close at three-thousand-471-point-11.

Naver, South Korea's largest internet portal operator, surged eleven-point-four percent on the news that the company is likely to acquire Dunamu, the operator of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit.

Kakao grew zero-point-64 percent, following CEO Chung Shin-a's announcement earlier this week that ChatGPT will be integrated into KakaoTalk, South Korea's largest mobile messenger.

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ slid eight-point-46 points, or zero-point-98 percent, to close at 852-point-48.

The local currency rose three-point-one won to stand at one-thousand-400-point-six won against the U.S. dollar as of Thursday at 3:30 p.m.