SEOUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign exchange market trading posted a double-digit growth in the first quarter as foreigners purchased domestic securities amid easing geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula, central bank data showed Thursday.
The daily average forex trading in the inter-bank market was 57.1 billion U.S. dollars in the January-March quarter, up 14.1 percent from the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the biggest quarterly figure since the bank began compiling the data in 2009.
Foreign investment into domestic stocks and bonds increased 10.07 billion dollars in the first quarter, after growing 1.18 billion dollars in the previous quarter.
Foreigners increased local bond purchase as detente came on the Korean Peninsula around the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games that were held in South Korea's east county of PyeongChang in February and March.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) sent athletes, cheerleaders and artists as well as political envoys to the South Korea-hosted winter sports events, opening an inter-Korean dialogue that led to the third inter-Korean summit on April 27.
Foreigners are required to exchange foreign currencies for the South Korean currency to invest in domestic securities and hedge the investment, raising the forex market transactions.
The daily average forex trading on spot gained 16.1 percent over the quarter to 22.78 billion dollars in the first quarter, and the forex derivatives transactions advanced 12.8 percent to 34.32 billion dollars.
