A painting by Korean abstract artist Kim Whan-ki has been sold for 6.32 billion won (US$5.36 million) on Sunday, making it the most expensive South Korean art work ever sold.

At Seoul Auction's 20th Hong Kong Sale, held at the Hong Kong Grand Hyatt, the yellow-dotted oil painting named "12-V-70 #172" broke the previous record of 5.4 billion won set by the very same artist during an auction held in Seoul in June.

The auction for the work, completed in New York in 1970, started at 4.5 billion won, but the price quickly escalated and reached well over the estimated 4.5 billion won to 5.8 billion won range.

The 236-by-173-centimeter painting is one of very few yellow-dotted paintings left by Kim, when most of his dotted paintings are in blue, Seoul Auction said.

Following Sunday's sale, the five most expensive South Korean artworks traded at domestic and foreign auctions all belong to the late artist.

The third most expensive is "Untitled" from 1970 at 4.86 billion won, followed by "19-VII-71 #209" from 1971 at 4.72 billion won and "Untitled 3-V-71 #203" also from 1971 at 4.56 billion won.

Seoul Auction said Kim's works hold value in that he autonomously absorbed western art from Asia and created his own style, adding the uniqueness in color of the yellow-dotted work seems to have contributed to breaking the record. (Yonhap)