South Korean stocks traded higher on late Tuesday morning led by gains in top market cap Samsung Electronics and other market heavyweights.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index  climbed 16.20 points, or 0.70 percent, to 2,319.48 as of 11:20 a.m.

The index remained in positive terrain after opening on an upbeat note, apparently tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

 In New York on Monday (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.43 percent at 20,894.32 points and the NASDAQ both moved up 0.82 percent.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics gained 0.31 percent and leading carmaker Hyundai Motor added 1.18 percent. Naver, the operator of the country's top search engine, was up 0.3 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,117.70 won against the US dollar, up 0.90 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)