Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges in the first quarter dropped nearly ten percent from a year earlier due to increasing uncertainties in the domestic and global political and trade environment at home and abroad. 
 
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Thursday that FDI commitments in the January-to-March period totaled six-point-41 billion U.S. dollars, down nine-point-two percent from a year ago.
 
Investments in terms of actual arrivals rose 26-point-four percent on-year to three-point-51 billion U.S. dollars. 

The ministry attributed the decline in FDI pledges to last year's record investment performance, investor caution amid uncertainties from U.S. tariffs, and the depreciation of the Korean won. 

FDI pledges in the manufacturing sector dropped 24-point-five percent from a year earlier to two-point-33 billion dollars, while those in the service sector fell seven-point-four percent to three-point-56 billion dollars.

FDI pledges from the European Union surged 163-point-six percent to one-point-49 billion dollars, while those from China plunged 75 percent to 340 million dollars.