South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as the rising woes over an earlier-than-expected tapering of U.S. quantitative easing dented investors' sentiment, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 9.62 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,999.74 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

Tech shares traded lower, with No. 1 Samsung Electronics moving down 1.03 percent and its rival LG Electronics falling 0.75 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display shed 1.05 percent.

Shipbuilders lost ground, with Hyundai Heavy Industries moving down 2.45 percent and Samsung Heavy Industries losing 1.17 percent.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering declined 1.69 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,061.75 won to the U.S. dollar as of 9:15 a.m., down 0.55 won from Tuesday's close. (Yonhap News)