British investors were most active stock traders among foreigners in South Korea in June, with Americans holding the largest amount of local shares, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.

The value of local stocks traded by offshore investors came to slightly upwards of 78 trillion won ($69.7 billion) in June, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total market turnover, according to data by the Financial Supervisory Service.

Turnover by British investors stood at 25.8 trillion won that month, taking up 33 percent of offshore investors' combined trading volume.

British investors were followed by Americans with 17.7 percent and investors from Luxembourg with 11.8 percent and Singaporeans with 6.4 percent.

Trading of South Korean stocks by investors from Japan, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan was minuscule in June with their ratios hovering below 1 percent.

As of end-June, US investors held 250.2 trillion won worth of South Korean stocks, accounting for the largest 42 percent of total foreign stock ownership. British investors came next with 47.8 trillion won, or 8 percent of the total.

A total of 44,072 foreign investors were registered with the FSS, with institutions reaching 33,167 and US investors numbering the largest 14,636, the data showed. (Yonhap)