Korean’s offshore financial assets soar to all-time high

The combined amount of overseas financial accounts held by South Korean nationals and companies hit the highest level this year, data from the country’s tax agency showed on Sept. 27.

They had a total of 56.84 trillion won (US$50.81 billion) in their overseas accounts, surging from 11.48 trillion won in 2011, according to data from the National Tax Service.

Hong Kong was the top offshore fund location for South Korea with an inflow of 6.32 trillion won, followed by China with 6.32 trillion won.

Since 2011, South Koreans with overseas financial accounts worth more than 1 billion won are obligated to report their overseas assets and sources to the national tax agency.