
South Korean stocks started lower Friday after a weeklong holiday, bracing for the aftermath of the emergence of Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 33.33 points, or 1.31 percent, to 2,503.47 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The KOSPI was closed from Monday to Thursday due to the Lunar New Year holiday.
The "DeepSeek shock" drove down big-cap tech shares, with market heavyweight Samsung Electronics down 2.61 percent and its chipmaking rival SK hynix plunging 9.59 percent.
Earlier this week, the low-cost AI models from China's DeepSeek rattled global stock markets.
Major US indexes, however, gained ground overnight as investors moved to bag in tech shares following a slide sparked by DeepSeek.
In Seoul, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution decreased 1.56 percent, and steel giant POSCO Holdings lost 1.34 percent.
Auto shares were also weak, with Hyundai Motor down 0.98 percent and its sister Kia dropping 0.88 percent.
Aerospace and defense firm Hanwha Aerospace also declined 2.07 percent.
Recent data also showed the world's largest economy is still strong, boosting investor sentiment.
The local currency was trading at 1,448.80 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., sharply down 17.5 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)