Foreign direct investment in Korea fell in the first quarter despite the recovery in the global economy. The nation attracted US$1.54 billion in investment from overseas in the January to March period, down 8.2 percent on-year, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Tuesday.

Investment in Korea from the U.S. plummeted by 89 percent and that from Japan by 69 percent, while the European Union increased its investment by 57 percent and the Middle East by a whopping 877 percent.

Foreign firms are postponing investment in the country due to the strength of the won, a ministry official said. But Korea's free trade agreement with the EU and its hosting of the G20 summit this year is expected to bolster FDI from the second quarter, he added.