* KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers

* Korean won strengthens against dollar

* South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

SEOUL, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street's rally overnight on optimism that the Federal Reserve is pivoting towards policy easing next year. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The benchmark KOSPI rose 26.32 points, or 1.02%, to 2,594.87 by 0157 GMT.

** MSCI's global stock index gained ground and U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly as investors focused on the prospect of 2024 interest rate cuts, while the U.S. dollar rose against the yen after the Bank of Japan kept rates steady.

** Among index heavyweights, chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 0.68% and peer SK Hynix gained 1.01%, while battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 1.17%.

** Hyundai Motor added 2.76% and sister automaker Kia Corp gained 3.02%, while search engine Naver and instant messenger Kakao were unchanged and down 0.37%, respectively.

** Of the total 936 traded issues, 675 shares advanced, while 201 declined.

** Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 229.3 billion won on the main board on Wednesday.

** The won was quoted at 1,301.2 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.51% higher than its previous close at 1,307.8.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,301.7 per dollar, down 0.1% on the day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,298.8.

** The KOSPI has risen 16.03% so far this year, and gained 5.1% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

** The won has lost 2.8% against the dollar so far this year.

** In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds fell 0.01 point to 104.98.

** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 1.3 basis points to 3.281%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 1.0 basis point to 3.332%. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)