S. Korea's external debt hits record high in 2012

South Korea's external debt rose to a record high in 2012 as foreign investors ramped up their purchases of Korean bonds amid aggressive monetary easing by major economies, the central bank said Wednesday.

The country's external debt totaled US$413.4 billion as of the end of December, up $14.7 billion from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the first time that the country's yearly foreign debt surpassed the $400 billion mark.

But in the fourth quarter, Korea's foreign debt declined by $5.9 billion from a quarterly record high of $419.4 billion in the third quarter as banks repaid short-term foreign borrowing amid tighter rules on bank's foreign exchange derivatives.