Sales of short-term corporate bonds in South Korea sank more than 7 percent in the first quarter of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday.

Local companies issued 257.2 trillion won ($230 billion) worth of bonds maturing within one year in the January-March period, down 7.2 percent from three months earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

Compared with a year earlier, the amount was also down 12.4 percent.

Sales of general short-term bonds declined 9.7 percent on-year to 205.3 trillion won, but securitized bonds floated by special purpose companies and other firms gained 4 percent to 51.9 trillion won.

Bonds issued by securities firms plunged 18.7 percent on-quarter to 134.2 trillion won, accounting for slightly over 52 percent of the total.

Sales of foreign-currency-denominated bonds soared nearly 28 percent on-quarter to $583 million, which was also up 32.6 percent from the previous year, according to the KSD data. (Yonhap)