The short selling of South Korean stocks surged last week as the trading scheme resumed for the first time in one and a half years on Monday.

According to the Korea Exchange on Sunday, investors' short selling totaled six-point-four trillion won across the country's main and secondary markets from Monday to Friday, with a daily average of one-point-28 trillion won.

This daily average marks a 63 percent increase from the 788-point-four billion won recorded between October 4 and November 3, 2023, just before the government imposed a complete ban on short selling on November 6.

Foreign investors dominated short selling activity, accounting for 90 percent in the main KOSPI market and 85 percent in the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market.

Foreign investors sold a net five-point-86 trillion won in the KOSPI last week, the highest since August 13, 2021.

Additionally, foreign investors offloaded a net 641-point-seven billion won worth of local stocks in the KOSDAQ.