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

South Korean shares opened higher Thursday as investors picked up large-cap shares amid woes over high-flying inflation.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 12.78 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,731.47 as of 9:15 a.m.

Overnight, the US stock markets ended mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.71 percent, while the S&P500 fell 0.06 percent and the Nasdaq was down 1.22 percent.

On the Seoul bourse, shares mostly traded higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.04 percent, and key battery maker LG Energy Solution inched up 0.34 percent.

No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix gained 0.89 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Bioglocis was up 0.87 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor also added 0.55 percent and its affiliate Kia went up 0.37 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,236.8 won against the US dollar, down 0.7 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)