South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors took to the sidelines amid the country's protracted fight against its worst wave of the pandemic.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.03 points, or 0.13 percent, to trade at 3,140.16 points in the first 15 minutes of trading.

South Korea's fight with the current wave of the pandemic weighed on investor sentiment as health authorities struggle to flatten the virus curve ahead of the Chuseok holiday next month.

In Seoul, most large caps traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged up 0.13 percent, while No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix fell 0.97 percent.

Internet portal operator Naver remained unchanged, while rival Kakao advanced 0.33 percent.

Top automaker Hyundai Motor slipped 0.71 percent, while leading chemical firm LG Chem added 0.52 percent.

Drugmaker SK Bioscience jumped 4.51 percent after its announcement a day earlier that it began phase three clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The local currency was trading at 1,166.5 won against the US dollar, up 0.5 won from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)