[THE INVESTOR] The inflow of foreign capital to Korea’s equity market rose to the highest level in five years in 2017, the central bank said on Jan. 10.

Foreign investors bought US$19.5 billion worth of Korean stocks and bonds last year, nearly nine times greater than the US$2.17 billion total for 2016, the Bank of Korea said.

The stock and bond markets attracted US$11.45 billion and US$8.05 billion, respectively.

“The foreign capital inflow was helped by positive investor sentiment across the global financial market and recovery in the Korean economy,” the central bank said.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)