South Korea's trade ministry released its initial figures for the amount of foreign direct investment pledged to Korea during the first half of this year.<br />Our Kim Ji-yeon breaks down the numbers for us.<br /> <br /> Korea's foreign direct investment during the January-to-June period this year amounted to nearly 16 billion U.S. dollars... a record-high for a year's first half.<br />The estimate, based on reported figures, is an increase of more than 64-percent compared to the same period last year.<br />The lion's share of the FDI came from traditionally primary investing countries including the European Union, the United States, China and Japan.<br />Also compared to previous years, there were rising investments from Middle Eastern countries.<br /> The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy attributes the record-high figures to Korea's strong economic fundamentals and a surge in joint investments through its 'global value chain,' where different stages of goods production take place in different countries. <br /> Strong fundamentals that have led Korea to become a favorable investment environment include strong exports, which surpassed 50-billion dollars for the fourth consecutive month leading up to May.<br />Also cited are an increase in the consumption of Korea's durable goods and a market boom in the country's semiconductor and petrochemical sectors.<br /> The ministry adds that the record-high FDI is particularly special in that it was achieved amid dwindling numbers of global mergers and acquisitions, intensifying trade tensions between the U.S. and China and a widening interest rate gap between Korea and the U.S.<br />With this, the ministry expects Korea to gradually reach the government's aim of reaching 20-billion dollars of FDI annually over the next four years.<br />Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News. <br />
