Due to Domestic Regulations

South Korean companies’ direct overseas investment totaled US$12.96 billion in the second quarter of this year, up 25.8% from a year ago.

South Korean corporations are rapidly increasing their overseas investment while refraining from investment in their home country due to regulations.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on September 6 that their direct overseas investment totaled US$12.96 billion in the second quarter of this year, up 25.8% from a year ago and up 33.2% from the previous quarter.

By industry, manufacturing accounted for 38.4% of the total, followed by finance and insurance (29.9%), real state (10.5%), wholesale and retail (6.1%) and mining (4.7%).

That from the manufacturing sector added up to US$4.98 billion with a year-on-year increase of 235.7%. Investment from finance and insurance increased 34.6% to US$3.87 billion while that from real estate rose 74% to US$1.36 billion.

“The growth in the second quarter was mainly because of a large M&A in the manufacturing sector,” the ministry explained, adding, “The M&A involving a semiconductor company boosted the overseas investment as in the previous quarter.”

About 33% of the total investment went to Asia, and it was followed by Latin America (29.2%), North America (22.1%) and Europe (14.4%). By country, the Cayman Islands accounted for 25.1%, followed by the United States (21.2%), Hong Kong (8.2%), China (7.2%) and Vietnam (6.8%).

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