South Korean stocks were the second top pick for foreigners after Taiwanese shares in the first half in the Asian region despite major downward momentum factors such as Britain's EU exit vote last month, the country's main bourse said Monday.

In the January-June period, foreigners bought a net $6.25 billion worth of Taiwanese stocks, followed by the purchases of Korean stocks and Indian shares worth $3.42 billion and $2.74 billion respectively, the Korea Exchange said in a statement.

"Foreigners bought a net $579 million stocks across Asian stock markets from June 24 to 30 even after Britain's unexpected decision to leave the European Union hit the global stock markets on June 24," the statement said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index plunged 3.09 percent to close at 1,925.24 points on June 24. But it rebounded to rise 3.11 percent in the past five sessions to end at 1,987.32 points on Friday.

The rebound was helped by the Seoul government's fiscal stimulus packages worth 20 trillion won ($17 billion) to ease market volatility and support growth.

For the whole of 2015, foreigners dumped a net $2.81 billion worth of Korean stocks. In contrast, they scooped up $3.35 billion worth of Taiwanese stocks and $3.27 billion Indian stocks, the statement said. (Yonhap)