Corporate direct financing in South Korea climbed 7.5 percent in July, as more companies tapped the bond market to raise funds, data showed Wednesday.Local companies raised a combined 21.61 trillion won (US$16.18 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, up 1.5 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.Stock sales declined 13 percent on-month to 1.51 trillion won last month, with a total of 1.2 trillion won raised in initial public offerings.Bond offerings rose 9.4 percent on-month to 20.1 trillion won last month, the data showed.As of end-July, the value of outstanding corporate bonds stood at 659.81 trillion won, up 1.67 trillion won from a month earlier.In July, local firms issued 40.61 trillion won worth of commercial papers, up 28.1 trillion won from the previous month, while they also issued 74.9 trillion won worth of short-term bonds, up 2.6 percent from a month earlier.Source: Yonhap News Agency