Foreigners' buying of S. Korean securities surges

By Park Bo-ram
SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- Foreign investors sharply increased holdings of local
securities this year as their growing risk appetites outweighed financial and
geopolitical jitters, data showed Tuesday.
Overseas buyers lapped up a net of 18.7 trillion won (US$15 billion) in local
bonds and stocks so far this year, compared with 11.6 trillion won the same
period last year, according to the data by the Korea Financial Investment
Association.
"Foreigners increased their exposure to emerging markets as economic recovery
hopes boosted their appetite for risk," said Lee Jae-hoon, an analyst at Mirae
Asset Securities Co. "Solid foreign buying will likely continue as they replenish
their portfolios with emerging stocks."
Foreigners increased their purchases even in May when North Korea's nuclear test
and ensuing missile launches raised tension on the Korean Peninsula.
Foreigners loaded up 6.92 trillion won in local securities last month, compared
with a selling of 12.8 trillion won in the same month last year, the data showed.

The local benchmark stock index, KOSPI, has jumped 24 percent so far this year as
improving economic indicators boost investor sentiment.
Inter-Korean tension has escalated since April when North Korea launched a rocket
allegedly capable of reaching Alaska in the U.S., followed by the May 25 nuke
test and several missile blastoffs.
The North's ramped-up military threats came in response to the South government's
hard-line stance against Pyongyang and international condemnation of its April
rocket launch.
There is cautious optimism that the South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest,
is bouncing back from a severe slump. The economy expanded 0.1 percent in the
first quarter from three months earlier, compared with a 5.1 percent tumble the
previous quarter.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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