South Korean companies, led by bio and game firms, are seeking to go public on the local stock market this year to capitalize on the recent bullish run, the bourse operator said Thursday.

Twenty companies have applied for the regulatory approval to make debuts on the main KOSPI and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ markets, sharply up from eight in the same period last year, according to the Korea Exchange.

Among the four awaiting the KOSPI market debut are Innocean Worldwide Inc., Hyundai Motor Group's advertisement arm, and Tonymoly Co., a Korean cosmetics firm featuring budget brands. 

DoubleU Games Inc., an online casino game developer, said it plans to go public on the KOSDAQ market within this year to further tap into the global market.

Besides local companies, foreign venture firms have shown interest in tapping the secondary bourse laden with start-up bio and tech enterprises, according to bourse officials.

So far, 19 foreign companies are preparing to enter the KOSDAQ market, with five of them planning to list within this year, the KRX said.

"We have often persuaded companies to go public in the past, but several firms voluntarily applied for IPOs this year thanks to improved investor sentiment," Ha Jong-won, a KRX official in charge of IPO, said. "A growing number of firms, especially those in the bio and game industries, have been requesting information related to the IPOs."

Last year, 73 companies debuted on the local stock market. The average yield rate of IPO stocks in the first month has risen from 14.1 percent in 2010 to 17.3 percent in 2012 and 38.4 percent in 2014, it said. (Yonhap)