Foreign ownership of South Korean stocks rose to its highest level in more than five years in December.

The Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF) said Sunday that foreign investors purchased a net three‑point‑five trillion won in local shares last month, lifting their share of total market capitalization to 32‑point‑nine percent, the highest since April 2020.

Net foreign buying in the electrical and electronics sector reached four‑and‑a‑half trillion won, including two‑point‑two trillion won in SK Hynix and one‑point‑four trillion won in Samsung Electronics.

Foreign investors also logged eight‑point‑eight trillion won in net purchases of South Korean bonds in December.

The KCIF attributed the simultaneous rise in foreign investment in both stocks and bonds to a boom in memory semiconductors, the sector's relative undervaluation, expectations for corporate‑value‑boosting policies, and strong incentives for carry trades.