SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's corporate bond issuance surged 30.5 percent in 2011 as local firms sought to secure funds to repay debts maturing early this year, data showed Monday.

The amount of corporate debts floated by local companies totaled 56.1 trillion won (US$50 billion) last year, compared with the 43.0 trillion won tallied in the previous year, according to the data by the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).
The surge in corporate bond issuance came as firms scurried to sell more debts to pay off maturing debts, the KSD said.