Seoul: South Korean stocks plummeted nearly 4 percent late Tuesday morning amid escalating concerns over possible economic impacts from the ongoing Middle East conflict. Opening 1.26 percent lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 246.98 points, or 3.96 percent, to 5,997.15 as of 11:20 a.m. in the first trading session following the U.S.-led attacks on Iran.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean financial market remained closed on Monday in observation of the March 1 Independence Movement Day holiday. Meanwhile, in the United States, stocks closed mixed as investors digested the implications of the U.S. air strikes on Iran, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping 0.15 percent while the Nasdaq Composite managed a gain of 0.36 percent.

In the Seoul market, major shares led the decline. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics saw a drop of 5.2 percent, and its chipmaking competitor SK hynix tumbled 5.66 percent. Samsung Biologics, a leading pharmaceutical firm, lost 3.77 percent, while the national flag air carrier Korean Air plunged 8.99 percent.

Conversely, S-Oil, an oil refinery firm with Saudi Arabia's Aramco as its largest shareholder, surged 16.45 percent. Defense giant Hanwha Aerospace also saw a significant increase, soaring 11.72 percent. The Korean won was trading at 1,467.3 won against the U.S. dollar as of 11:20 a.m., showing a decrease of 27.6 won from the previous session.