While the KOSPI index has been out of the box recently, it was found that foreigners sold a lot of Korean stocks in the first quarter of this year.
According to the Korea Exchange, foreign investors net sold a total of 7.6 trillion won worth of domestic stocks in the first quarter of this year.
Net selling was 5.8 trillion won in the KOSPI market and 1.8 trillion won in the KOSDAQ market.
In particular, the amount of net selling in the securities market last month alone reached 5.1 trillion won, the highest monthly since August of last year.
The share of stock market capitalization held by foreigners also stood at 31.61% as of the 1st, the lowest level in six years since 31.54% on January 28, 2016.
Foreigners' net selling was concentrated on LG Energy Solutions, which had sold 2.94 trillion won worth of stocks by the end of March.
This is more than half of the total foreign KOSPI net selling during the same period.
Samsung Electronics, Kakao, Naver, and Hyundai Motor also sold close to 1 trillion won in market caps.
Foreigners' 'Cell Korea' is interpreted as a combination of the geopolitical crisis and the burden of rising prices, in addition to concerns about austerity that have been raised since the beginning of the year.
(Photo = Yonhap News)