Foreign ownership of South Korean stocks climbed to its highest level in nearly six years in December.

The Korea Exchange said Sunday that foreign investors held one-thousand-398-point-34 trillion won worth of local shares as of January 7, raising their share of total market capitalization to 37-point-18 percent.

The level is the highest since April 9, 2020, when foreign ownership stood at 37-point-34 percent.

Foreign holdings had remained in the low 30 percent range during the first half of last year before rising steadily from September and surpassing 36 percent in December.

Foreign buying focused on semiconductor stocks in late 2025 and has shifted toward shipbuilding, defense, and nuclear power shares so far this year.