The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 46.29 points, or 1.49 percent, to settle at 3,160.84. Trading volume stood at 1.33 billion shares worth 24.6 trillion won (22.4 billion U.S. dollars).
The KOSPI started 0.28 percent higher and extended earlier hikes throughout the session as foreigners snapped up local shares following the U.S. stock market rally overnight.
Wall Street's major averages closed at new record highs after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th U.S. president.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.83 percent to close at 31,188.38, and the S&P 500 increased 1.39 percent to 3,851.85.
Foreigners purchased local stocks on hope for further stimulus package under the new Biden administration.
Both institutional and retail investors were net sellers, weighing the prospect of additional U.S. fiscal stimulus.
Large-cap shares gained ground. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 1.0 percent, and memory chip giant SK hynix climbed 0.8 percent. The biggest automaker Hyundai Motor went up 2.1 percent, and the most-used search engine Naver jumped 4.7 percent.
Biopharmaceutical behemoth Celltrion increased 0.3 percent, and Samsung BioLogics, a pharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group, was up 0.1 percent.
The small-cap KOSDAQ added 3.74 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 981.40.
The local currency finished at 1,098.2 won versus the greenback, up 2.1 won from the previous close.
Bond prices ended mixed. Yield on the liquid three-year treasury notes fell 0.5 basis points to 0.971 percent, but the return on the 10-year government bonds was up 0.3 basis points to 1.706 percent.
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