Foreign investors turned into net buyers of South Korean stocks last month amid a bullish run of the country's stock market, the financial watchdog said Thursday.

Offshore investors bought a net 573 billion won ($521.2 million) worth of stocks in February, a turnaround from 949 billion won in net selling in the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

The total value of their shareholdings came to 437.5 trillion won as of the end of February, accounting for 30.7 percent of the total market capitalization, slightly down from 31.2 percent the previous month.

Swiss investors led the purchase, scooping up 590 billion won worth of Korean shares. Investors from Japan and the United States bought 271 billion won and 250 billion won, respectively, the FSS said.

Those from Middle Eastern countries ran counter to the move, with Saudi Arabians dumping a net 280 billion won worth of local stocks and United Arab Emirates' investors offloading a net 258 billion won.

In the bond market, foreigners remained net buyers for a second consecutive month and purchased a net 642 billion won in February, up from 55 billion won a month earlier, said the FSS.

Chinese investors purchased a net 398 billion won worth of Korean bonds, followed by Singaporeans with a net 249 billion won.

The total value of their bond holdings stood at 101.1 trillion won as of end-February, staying over the 100 trillion won level for four months in a row, the FSS said. (Yonhap)