Korea’s direct overseas investment more than doubled in the first half of the year to a record high of $26.9 billion on the back of vigorous resources development projects, the government said Monday.

The figure translates to a 132 percent rise from about $11.6 billion a year earlier and amounts to more than 80 percent of $33.1 billion throughout last year, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

“Although global economic uncertainties are expected to have a slight impact on the rising tide, the year-end results will be hugely improved compared with last year,” the ministry said in a statement.

The sharp increase largely resulted from new corporate projects involving drilling crude oil and natural gas in the U.S., Australia and Cambodia, the ministry said.

More than $16 billion was spent in the mining sector in the January-June period, up almost 374 percent on-year from $3.4 billion. That accounts for nearly 60 percent of the total investment.

The top investor was Korea National Oil Corp., which poured $8.47 billion into a project to develop shale oil in Texas. In April, the state-run energy explorer bought a 23.7-percent stake in the block from U.S.-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for $1.55 billion.

The Korea Gas Corp. came in second with $3.63 billion of investment in a liquefied natural gas project in Australia, followed by GS Caltex Corp., which injected $1.04 billion in a Cambodian oil and gas mining block.

By region, Korean companies and individuals favored North America the most as they pumped nearly $13 billion in the region’s industries ranging from energy to finance to retail over the six-month period.

Asia came next with about $7.2 billion, followed by Oceania with $3.9 billion and Europe with $1.7 billion.

The ministry also underlined a 30-percent jump in combined outflows to BRIC countries ― Brazil, Russia, India and China. India, most notably, saw a 252 percent rise to $360 million, boosted by investment from POSCO and Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. in the country’s manufacturing sector.

“The emerging economies saw high levels of FDI inflows as they steered a global recovery in the first half,” the ministry said.

The world’s foreign direct investment is projected to hover between $1.4 trillion and $1.6 trillion, rebounding to the levels before the 2007-8 financial meltdown, according to the United Nations’ statistics agency.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)