South Korean stocks opened higher Monday as big-cap technology shares gained ground.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 9.90 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,587.98 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics climbed 0.91 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix fell 0.51 percent.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution added 0.48 percent, while its smaller rival Samsung SDI shed 0.56 percent.

IT stocks were bullish, with internet portal operator Naver up 2.27 percent and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, up 3.05 percent.

LG affiliates also gained ground.

Leading chemical producer LG Chem jumped 1.45 percent, and home appliances maker LG Electronics advanced 0.72 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor went up 0.32 percent, but its smaller affiliate Kia went down 0.22 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,313.60 won against the US dollar, up 1.8 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)