Foreign investment in domestic shares posted the sharpest exodus in four years last month when global financial markets were jolted by prospects of a U.S. rate hike.

According to Bank of Korea(BOK) data on February market trends released Thursday, over three-point-six billion dollars of foreign investment in South Korean stocks left the country last month, the largest since June 2013.

June 2013 was when global markets were shaken up by the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to shift its quantitative easing to monetary tightening.

A BOK official said that unlike that time, the situation now is more of a short-term outflow as more investors are avoiding risks.

The official added that past mid-February, the uneasy sentiment subsided and more foreign funds came into the country than what were being withdrawn.