Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges for the third quarter of 2009 amounted to $3.38 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 17.4 percent.
This is the second consecutive quarter in which Korea has seen increased FDI pledges.
For the first nine months of the year, FDI pledges in Korea rose 8.1 percent year on year to $8.02 billion.
The current economic crisis has resulted in a marked downturn in global FDI. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) declared in its latest World Investment Report that the trend, which began in 2008 with a smaller flow of FDI to advanced countries, had spread to developing countries this year.
Korea has apparently steered clear of this trend, mostly thanks to the government’s rapid response and its active implementation of measures to attract investment. The flow of FDI into Korea has seen a continuous increase since the second quarter, when it recorded a dramatic year-on-year surge of 61.9 percent.    
FDI in the manufacturing sector slid 13.1 percent to $511 million; however, foreign investment in the electricity and electronics sector and the transportation machinery sector rose 44.8 percent and 50.0 percent, respectively. Investment in the service sector increased 32.5 percent to $2.85 billion. Greenfield investments stood at $1.78 billion, a decrease of 7.5 percent, while FDI through mergers and acquisitions rose 67.5 percent to $1.60 billion.
Large-scale investments—those in excess of $100 million—posted $2.19 billion, an increase of 66.3 percent from the same period the previous year, while investments worth less than $100 million slid 34.5 percent to $1.19 billion. The number of existing investments that increased in amount rose 59.4 percent to $2.92 billion; while new investments dropped 51.4 percent, recording $427 million.   
Furthermore, investment from Japan and the European Union has increased significantly—161.9 percent and 47.2 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, investment from the United States decreased 44.5 percent.