South Korea won edges up on stock gains; KEPCO weighs

* KEPCO soaks up dollars to buy back euro, yen bonds

* Won expected rangebound, but bullish trend seen intact (Updates to domestic close)

SEOUL, Nov 18 - The South Korean won edged up against the dollar on Wednesday as local shares hit a three-week high on continued buying by foreign investors.

The won <KRW=>, however, failed to break through strong resistance at 1,150 per dollar as state-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) <015760.KS> kept absorbing dollars to buy back bonds denominated in euros and yen, hightening caution over dollar-buying intervention by the foreign exchange authorities.

The greenback drifted sideways after a rebound in the previous day and importers bought it for settlements, preventing the further gains by the won.

The local currency was expected to stay in a range as KEPCO's dollar demand and wariness over potential intervention were likely to offset the won's firm tone, analysts said.

"KEPCO will keep pressuring the won, but more players are looking for chances to buy won on dips as its bullish trend is intact," said Jeong My-young, a currency strategist at Samsung Futures Inc.

The South Korean unit was quoted at 1,152.9/3.4 per dollar as of 0600 GMT, compared with Tuesday's domestic close <KRW=KFTC> of 1,154.1.

Seoul shares <.KS11> ended up 1.13 percent as foreign investors bought a net 89.0 billion won ($77.16 million) worth of stocks on the main exchange.

Foreigners purchased a net 203.2 billion won worth of stocks in the previous session.

0600 GMT 0035 GMT Prev close Won 1,152.9/3.4 1,152.3/2.7 1,154.1 Yen/won 12.9292/52 12.9037/14 12.9467/35 KOSPI 1,603.97 1,612.04 1,585.98