South Korean stocks opened higher Monday amid the rising hopes for an additional stimulus by the European Central Bank (ECB), analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 21.03 points, or 1.11 percent, to 1,909.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Shares gathered ground across the board, with Samsung Electronics rising 1.6 percent, and top chipmaker SJ hynix advancing 0.53 percent. Samsung SDI added 1.83 percent, and LG Electronics climbed 1.32 percent.

Builders also traded bullish, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction moving up 4.26 percent and Daewoo Engineering & Construction increasing 2.14 percent. Daelim Industrial added 2.71 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,082.95 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 5.65 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap)