* KOSPI rises, foreigners net buyers

* Korean won strengthens against U.S. dollar

* South Korea benchmark bond yield rises

*

SEOUL, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

** South Korean shares rose on Friday, and were set to post their first weekly gain in a month, as investors were optimistic about the earnings season that is gathering pace. The Korean won strengthened and the benchmark bond yield rose.

** The benchmark KOSPI rose 18.17 points, or 0.61%, to 3,006.81 as of 0144 GMT, tracking Wall Street's strong overnight finish as companies including Morgan Stanley posted strong results. The KOSPI was on track to end the week nearly 2% higher.

** Among the heavyweights, technology giant Samsung Electronics gained 1.30% and peer SK Hynix rose 3.09%, while LG Chem fell 1.06% and Naver rose 0.25%.

** Samsung Electronics, LG Display and SK Hynix are all set to report their results later this month. ** The positive part is that expectations of higher inflation are waning and investors are looking ahead to corporate earnings season, said Park Kwang-nam, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.

** South Korea's central governor on Friday said it may be possible for the Bank of Korea to raise base interest rates at its next review on Nov. 25.

** Foreigners were net buyers of 33.7 billion won worth of shares on the main board.

** The won was quoted at 1,182.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.34% higher than its previous close at 1,186.8.

** In offshore trading, the won was quoted at 1,183.0 per dollar, down 0.1% from the previous day, while in non-deliverable forward trading its one-month contract was quoted at 1,183.4.

** The KOSPI has risen 4.64% this year, but lost 4.5% in the previous 30 trading sessions.

** The trading volume during the session in the KOSPI index was 329.00 million shares. Of the total traded issues of 927, the number of advancing shares was 481. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim and Jihoon Lee; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)