Foreign stock ownership hits all-time high

Foreign stock ownership has hit the highest ever level.

According to the Korea Stock Exchange (KSE) Monday, foreign investors held an all-time high of 68.9 trillion won worth of stocks or 31.11 percent of the total listed on the domestic market as of Apr. 27.

KSE officials said that the figure marked an increase of more than five fold from 13.9 trillion won (or 14.74 percent of the total) reported at the end of 1997 after the financial crisis hit Korea and was twice as much in terms of proportion of total market value.

Foreign investors have recorded net buying of 22.77 trillion won a year since 1998. So far this year, they have gobbled up 4.14 trillion won worth of stock including 1.29 trillion won of Samsung Electronics shares.

The foreign investors were found to have favored the semiconductor industry the most. They hold 21.34 trillion won of semiconductor shares, up 1,506.07 percent from the end of 1997.

Lee Wan-Bae roryrery@donga.com