South Korea's total foreign direct investment surged to a record high of 35-point-two billion dollars last year from 23-point-one billion dollars ten years ago on increased investments in the U.S. and Vietnam.
 
According to data from the Export-Import Bank of Korea on Monday, South Korea's investment in the U.S. totaled 12-point-nine billion dollars last year, up more than 120 percent from 2013.
 
The rise came on the back of growing corporate investments. Samsung Electronics acquired ten corporations in the U.S. alone in the past three years, including automotive electronics firm Harman International Industries for eight billion dollars. Hyundai Motor has announced that it will invest three-point-one billion dollars in the U.S. over the next five years while LG Electronics plans to build a washing machine factory in Tennessee with an annual production capacity of one million units.
 
Direct investment in China, however, remained at the three-billion dollar range for three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016 after dipping from five-point-two billion dollars in 2013.