S. Korea's net foreign assets hit new high in 2019

SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's net overseas assets reached an all-time high in 2019, thanks mainly to increased stock investments, central bank data showed Thursday.

The country's net international investment position came to US$500.9 billion as of the end of December, up $64.8 billion from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The position refers to the difference between Korea's external financial assets and the domestic assets owned by foreigners. It serves as a measure of a country's external solvency.

South Korea's external financial assets came to $1.69 trillion at the end of last year, up $153.4 billion from a year earlier.

The country's external financial liabilities, or foreign investments here, reached $1.19 trillion, up $88.6 billion over the cited period.

South Korea's external debt stood at $467 billion as of end-December, $25.8 billion more than a year earlier.

Short-term foreign debt, which matures within one year, rose by $8.9 billion over the cited period, with long-term debt growing by $16.9 billion.

South Korea's short-term external debt accounted for 28.2 percent of its outstanding external liabilities.

The ratio of short-term foreign debt to foreign reserves stood at 32.9 percent at the end of December, up 1.8 percentage points from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, South Korea's net international investment position came to around 30 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) as of end-2019. The government estimated last year's nominal GDP at $1.64 trillion.
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