South Korean stocks opened lower Monday due to losses on Wall Street in the previous trading session amid the rising crisis in Syria, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) edged down 0.51 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,925.85 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares lost ground across the board, with tech giant Samsung Electronics falling 0.29 percent and top steelmaker POSCO moving down 0.78 percent. No. 1 carmaker Hyundai Motor shed 1.41 percent.

U.S. stocks closed lower Friday amid the prospect of a U.S.-led military attack on Syria, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 0.21 percent and tech-laden NASDAQ composite index falling 0.84 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,106.75 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 3.25 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap News)