Foreign investors sold South Korean stocks last month on rising geopolitical risks caused by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s tests of ballistic missiles, financial watchdog data showed on Tuesday.

Foreigners sold a net 2.42 trillion won (2.15 billion U.S. dollars) worth of local listed stocks in August, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The sell-off came amid the mounting geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula following the DPRK's tests in July of what it called an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Pyongyang fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) in late August over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, further escalating tensions on the peninsula.

Investors from the United States, Asia and Europe sold domestic stocks worth 800 billion won, 600 billion won and 400 billion won respectively.

Foreign holdings of local shares came in at 596.2 trillion won as of end-August, accounting for 33.2 percent of the total market capitalization.

Offshore investors sold a net 2.17 trillion won worth of local listed bonds in August, while their ownership of bonds stood at 104.4 trillion won at the end of last month.

The bond sales were attributable to maturing debts, which foreigners refused to replace with newly issued bonds.