Korea's C/V surplus halves, outbound stock invest outsized inbound by a factor of 6

Incheon Port / Yonhap.

SEOUL, December 05 (AJP) - South Korea posted its 30th straight monthly current account surplus in October, but the headline figure shrank to a six-month low as reduced factory activity during the Chuseok holiday dampened trade, according the central bank data, which also showed Korean outbound stock purchases overwhelming foreign inflows by a factor of six to explain the stubbornly weak Korean won against the U.S. dollar.

The Bank of Korea said Friday that the country recorded a $6.81 billion current account surplus in October, down sharply from $13.47 billion in September and from $9.4 billion a year earlier.

Korea’s September–October trade patterns typically hinge on the timing of the Chuseok holiday, with exports front-loaded ahead of factory shutdowns.

Even with the pullback, the cumulative surplus for the first 10 months reached a record $89.58 billion—17 percent higher than a year earlier—putting Seoul on track to hit the $115 billion milestone for 2025.

The services account logged a $3.75 billion deficit despite a record influx of inbound tourists. The travel balance swung deeper into the red, widening to $1.36 billion from $910 million in September, as a stronger dollar inflated Koreans’ overseas spending.

The goods account recorded a surplus of $7.82 billion, half of September’s $14.24 billion. The Bank of Korea said the drop largely reflected the normalization of consumption tax flows, which had surged ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

Graphics by AJP Song Ji-yoon

Customs-cleared exports rose 3.5 percent on year to $59.5 billion.

Semiconductor shipments jumped 25.2 percent to $15.86 billion, while vessel exports soared 135.8 percent to $4.62 billion. Petroleum products also posted an 11.7 percent gain to $3.84 billion, despite intensifying low-cost competition from China.

The primary income account booked a $2.94 billion surplus, buoyed by Koreans’ growing investment income overseas. Dividend income alone reached $2.29 billion, underscoring heavy equity allocations abroad.

In the financial account, net assets increased by $6.81 billion as outbound investment continued to dominate. Direct overseas investment totaled $1.88 billion, far outpacing the $150 million that foreigners invested in Korea.

Graphics by AJP Song Ji-yoon

Korean nationals’ overseas equity purchases surged to $18 billion in October—more than double September’s $8.5 billion and six times the $2.93 billion foreign investors deployed into Korean stocks.

Reserve assets rose by $6.67 billion, up from $4 billion in September, suggesting stepped-up efforts by authorities to counter won weakness after the currency moved past 1,450 per dollar and continued south in October.

As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, the won was trading at 1,474 per dollar.
Kim Yeon-jae Reporter duswogmlwo77@ajupress.com

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