The issuance of derivatives-linked securities (DLS) in South Korea sank more than 10 percent in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday.

The country's DLS sales came to 9.46 trillion won ($8.23 billion) in the January-June period, down 10.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

The amount was also down 10.9 percent from six months earlier.

DLS tracks the performance of interest rates, currency values and other underlying assets, promising high returns for risky investors.

Samsung Securities issued the largest amount of DLS at 1.56 trillion won, followed by Kyobo Securities with 1.10 trillion won and Hanwha Investment & Securities with slightly over 1 trillion won.

The amount of redeemed DLS came to 9.92 trillion won in the six-month period, down 44.1 percent from a year earlier and 32.2 percent from the latter half of last year.

As of end-June, the value of outstanding DLS stood at 26.77 trillion won, down 0.5 percent from the end of December, according to the data. (Yonhap)