The ratio climbed to 46.5 percent at the end of June from 43.3 percent three months earlier, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday.
It was the highest reading since the second quarter of 2011, when the ratio stood at 50.8 percent, according to quarterly data compiled by the Bank of Korea.
Short-term external debt, defined as obligations with maturities of one year or less, increased by $15 billion from the previous quarter to $198.5 billion, while its share of total external debt rose to 24.4 percent from 23.7 percent.
Total external debt increased by $38.4 billion to $812.8 billion, with long-term debt rising by $23.5 billion to $614.3 billion.
The ministry said the increase in short-term debt largely reflected settlement-related liabilities generated as foreign investors sold Korean equities rather than an increase in overseas borrowing.
External debt held by nonbank financial institutions, public corporations and private companies rose by $36.3 billion, while government external debt increased by $8.4 billion, partly as foreign inflows into South Korean government bonds accelerated with the country's phased inclusion in the World Government Bond Index.
Bank external debt fell by $4.8 billion and central bank liabilities declined by $1.5 billion over the quarter.
South Korea's external claims rose by a larger $40.7 billion to $1.181 trillion, lifting net external claims — external claims minus external debt — by $2.3 billion to $367.8 billion, the first increase in three quarters.
The ministry said the increase in net external claims and foreign-exchange reserves indicated that the country's external payment capacity remained adequate despite the rise in short-term debt indicators.
Foreign-currency liquidity at domestic banks also remained well above regulatory requirements, with their foreign-currency liquidity coverage ratio at 167 percent at the end of the second quarter, compared with the regulatory minimum of 80 percent.
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