Corporate direct financing in South Korea surged 62 percent in January from the previous month, fueled by an increase in corporate bond issuances, data showed Thursday. Local companies raised a combined 25.3 trillion won (US$18.9 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 9.6 trillion won from December, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks and other financial institutions. As of end-January, the value of outstanding corporate bonds came to 648.7 trillion won, up 1.2 percent from a month ago. Source: Yonhap News Agency