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

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday despite losses on Wall Street amid worsening military conflicts between Israel and Iran.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 6.96 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,901.58 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Friday, major U.S. indexes lost ground on escalating tensions in the Middle East sparked by Israel's airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.79 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite went down 1.3 percent, and the S&P 500 decreased 1.13 percent.

In Seoul, retail investors and institutions net purchased some 87 billion won ($63.7 million) won worth of local shares as of 9:15 a.m., driving up the KOSPI.

Tech behemoth Samsung Electronics dropped 1.2 percent, but its chipmaking rival SK hynix advanced 2.55 percent.

Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace climbed 1.9 percent, and major nuclear power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility soared 4.76 percent.

Leading shipbuilders HD Hyundai Heavy and HD Korea Shipbuilding rose 2.34 percent and 1.71 percent, respectively.

Internet portal operator Naver also jumped 2.24 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger, expanded 2.33 percent.

On the other hand, leading battery maker LG Energy Solution retreated 1.86 percent, and top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 1.06 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,367 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 2.6 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)