Foreign investment hits 6-year low in South Korea as tax breaks end

Service sector suffers huge blow with US and China leading pullback

A construction site in Seoul. South Korea may be overly ambitious in its bid to attract over $20 billion in foreign direct investment this year. © Reuters

KENICHI YAMADA, Nikkei staff writer

May 18, 2019 14:10 JST

SEOUL -- Overseas companies and investors are becoming reluctant to pour money into South Korea.

Foreign direct investment in South Korea tumbled 36% year on year to a six-year low of about $3.17 billion in the first quarter of 2019 on a declared basis, according to an FDI Trend report released by the nation's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.