SEOUL (AFP) -- South Korean shares opened down 1.40 percent Monday following last week's market turmoil and the downgrade to the United States' credit rating by Standard & Poor's.

The benchmark KOSPI index was down 27.18 points at 1,916.57 at the open, but it made up ground and had declined 0.5 percent 18 minutes after trading began.

The stock market fall pushed the won lower. It was trading at 1,070 to the dollar as of 9:05 a.m., down 2.6 won from Friday's close.

The Korea Exchange, the operator of South Korea's stock markets, said before the market opened Monday that it would consider countermeasures to any sharp drop in share prices. It gave no details.