South Korean stocks opened lower Monday, as investors took a breather ahead of corporate earnings season.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 9.91 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,534.49 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Friday, US shares closed marginally higher amid a lack of fresh market-moving events.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.07 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite went up 0.11 percent.

This week, major companies in South Korea, including chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, are to release their first-quarter earnings amid a gloomy outlook for the performance of chipmakers, in particular, over a global economic slowdown and monetary tightening policy steps.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics sank 0.91 percent, and SK hynix fell 0.9 percent.

Chemicals traded mixed, with leading battery maker LG Energy Solution going down 0.17 percent while LG Chem added 0.26 percent. Samsung SDI inched down 0.14 percent.

But carmakers rose following recent losses. No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.63 percent and its affiliate Kia advanced 0.63 percent.

Internet giant Naver decreased 0.42 percent, and Kakao, the operator of the popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, lost 0.86 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,329.60 won against the US dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 1.4 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)