South Korean stocks got off to a strong start on Thursday, boosted by expectations for the president-elect and her new government scheduled to take office next year, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 11.48 points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,004.57 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

On Wednesday, ruling conservative candidate Park Geun-hye won the presidential election against rival Moon Jae-in of the liberal opposition by garnering 51.6 percent of the vote.

Shares gathered ground across the board, with brokerages, builders and automobiles driving up the index. Samsung Securities gained more than 2 percent and No. 1 player Hyundai Engineering & Construction rose 1.8 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,072.50 won against the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., up 0.3 won from Tuesday's close.

The local stock markets were closed on Wednesday for the presidential election. (Yonhap News)