South Korean investments in overseas securities fell for the first time in three quarters in the second quarter as the eurozone debt crisis hit share prices, the central bank said Thursday.

Institutional investors' investments in foreign stocks, bonds and so-called Korean Paper reached an outstanding $54.44 billion as of the end of June, down $2.2 billion from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Such investments posted their first decline since the third quarter of last year, when they fell by $11.14 billion, the largest decline since the onset of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Korean Paper refers to foreign-currency-denominated securities issued by the South Korean government, financial institutions or companies based abroad.

The central bank said that falls in global stock prices undercut the value of shareholding held by local institutional investors.

Investments in foreign stocks declined $2.63 billion on-quarter to $26.85 billion as of end-June, while those in overseas bonds gained $370 million to $14.38 billion, the BOK said. (Yonhap News)