South Koreans' spending on overseas study and travel made the biggest drop in November in a decade due to the won's weakness and the slumping economy, Yonhap News reported quoting data from the central bank Monday.

Koreans' expenditure on overseas study totaled $167.7 million in November, down 51.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It was the largest year-on-year fall since January 1998 when such spending declined 61.7 percent, it added.

South Koreans have spent large sums of money on their children's overseas studies due to their zeal for high-quality education. But a number of so-called "goose fathers," or men who stay in Korea to support families who go abroad for their education, are reeling from the huge burden of spending on overseas education due to the won's depreciation.

Hit by the U.S.-sparked global financial crisis, the Korean won plunged 25.7 percent to the dollar last year alone, becoming one of the world's worst-performing currencies.

The local currency's weakness also discouraged local people from spending money on overseas travel, the BOK added.

South Koreans' spending on overseas trips totaled $473.9 million in November, down 68.1 percent from a year earlier. It marked the steepest fall since January 1998 when such expenditure tumbled 71.6 percent.

A fall in overseas studies and travel helped the country's travel account stay in the black in November for the second straight month. The country's travel account surplus reached $422.8 million last month, compared with $495.5 million in October.

South Korea's travel account balance in October swung to the black for the first time since April 2001, according to the central bank.