Seoul: Foreign investors offloaded a record amount of South Korean stocks in May amid unrest in the Middle East and profit-taking, data showed on Friday. Offshore investors sold a net 47 trillion won (US$30.4 billion) worth of local stocks last month, surpassing the previous record monthly net selling of 43.51 trillion won in March, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

According to Yonhap News Agency, in the first five months of the year, foreign investors sold a net 114.22 trillion won, significantly higher than last year's total sell-offs of 11.08 trillion won. Following their net selling in May, offshore investors owned 2,852.3 trillion won worth of local stocks, or 35.3 percent of the total market capitalization, marking the highest-ever recorded.

Investors from the United States were the top sellers in May, offloading a net 28.86 trillion won worth of shares. They were followed by investors from Canada, who executed a net sell-off of 4.2 trillion won, the latest findings indicated.

In contrast, the local bond market saw foreign investors buying a net 11.72 trillion won worth of local bonds last month. Their holdings of local bonds stood at 333.6 trillion won as of the end of May, accounting for 11.7 percent of listed bonds in the country.