Seoul, Oct 5 (IANS): Foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Korea hit a record high for the first nine months of this year due to larger investment in advanced sectors such as semiconductors and batteries, government data showed Wednesday.

The reported FDI amounted to 21.52 billion US dollars in the January-September period, up 18.2 per cent compared to the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Xinhua news agency reported.

It marked the highest in the reported FDI, topping 20 billion dollars for the first time through the three quarters.

The record FDI was driven by higher investment in chips, secondary batteries and electric vehicles.

The reported FDI in the manufacturing industry reached 7.8 billion dollars in the nine-month period, up 152 percent from a year earlier.

Foreign investment in the domestic services sector declined 11.5 per cent to 12.67 billion dollars.

Direct investment from the United States and Japan gained to 7.13 billion dollars and 1.04 billion dollars each, but investment from the European Union reduced in double digits to 3.3 billion dollars.

Greenfield investment, which involves factory construction and employment, plunged 24.4 per cent to 13.95 billion dollars in the nine-month period, and the merger and acquisition investment rose 8.3 per cent to 7.57 billion dollars.