The value of South Korean stocks offloaded by foreign investors last year reached $5.66 billion, the largest in seven years, driven by US-China trade war and uncertainties tailing US interest rate hike, data from the Bank of Korea showed. They have become the net sellers for the first time in three years.

But they remained strong buyers in the bond market, purchasing $13.91 billion worth of bonds last year.

On a monthly basis, foreigners remained net buyers in the securities market for two consecutive months in December, purchasing a net $1.49 billion worth of stocks and bonds, on rising expectations for trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

For the whole of 2018, foreigners bought a net $8.25 billion worth of South Korean securities, down sharply from a net buying of $19.5 billion the previous year. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)