An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)
An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)

Seoul shares started weaker Friday as the parliament is set to vote on an impeachment motion against acting President Han Duck-soo later in the day.

The South Korean won also continued to trade at its lowest level in more than 15 years.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 15.85 points, or 0.65 percent, to 2,413.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

It marks the first time in South Korea's constitutional history that an impeachment motion against an acting president has been put to a vote in the National Assembly.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.46 percent and its sister Kia lost 1.75 percent. Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis shed 0.21 percent.

Financial firms also opened weaker, with KB Financial moving down 0.35 percent and Shinhan Financial decreasing 0.61 percent.

Tech shares opened mixed, with Samsung Electronics falling 0.19 percent while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 1.65 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,469.6 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., down 4.8 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)