New pledges for foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Korea dropped in 2013 from a year earlier, affected by a significant pullback by Japan, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Tuesday. New FDI pledges plunged 10.7 percent on-year to US$14.55 billion last year, according to the ministry. The figure still marked a 9.9 percent gain from a five-year average of $13.24 billion.