SEOUL, 4th January, 2026 (WAM) -- Foreign ownership as a share of total market capitalisation reached its highest level in five years and eight months in December, supported by a rally in the Republic of Korea’s equity market, a report showed on Sunday.
Foreigners bought a net 3.5 trillion won (US$2.4 billion) worth of local shares in December, raising their stockholdings to 32.9 percent of total market capitalisation, the highest level since April 2020, according to a report published by the Korea Centre for International Finance (KCIF).
Separate data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) showed that foreign ownership stood at 29.6 percent as of November, compared with 31.5 percent in April 2020.
Yonhap News Agency quoted KCIF report as saying that foreign investors purchased a net 4.5 trillion won worth of shares in the electronics sector in December.
In the bond market, foreign investors bought a net 8.8 trillion won worth of bonds last month, the report said.
KCIF attributed the sharp rise in foreign investment to expectations that robust global demand for memory chips will benefit Korean chipmakers.