South Korean stocks traded a tad higher late Monday morning as investors took to the sidelines amid rising speculation over a U.S. interest rate hike, while foreigners snapped up recently battered stocks.
  

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 1.3 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,030.78 as of 11:20 a.m.
  

Samsung Life Insurance, a unit of top conglomerate Samsung Group, rose 3.67 percent after it announced a share buyback program worth 700 billion won ($613.1 million) on Friday, following suits of other affiliates adopting shareholder-friendly policies. 
  

SK Telecom, the nation's No. 1 mobile carrier, fell 1.45 percent after the firm said it will acquire CJ Hellovision, a leading cable television operator as part of a push into the media platform business.
  

Under the deal, SK Telecom will take over a 30 percent stake for 500 billion won in CJ Hellovision from its parent firm CJ O Shopping.
  

The local currency was changing hands at 1,142.5 won against the greenback as of 11:20 a.m., down 2.4 won from Friday's close. (Yonhap)