Due to US Dollar Depreciation

As of the end of November, South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$402.99 billion, showing a month-on-month increase of US$0.24 billion.

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$402.99 billion as of the end of last month, showing a month-on-month increase of US$0.24 billion, according to data released by the Bank of Korea on Dec. 5. 

Korea's forex reserves hit a record high of US$403 billion in September and edged down to US$402.75 billion in October before rebounding in November.

Last month, the central bank succeeded in increasing the revenue from its foreign currency-denominated assets while the U.S. dollar depreciated to result in an increase in the value of its foreign currency assets converted to the U.S. dollar and the increase in the reserves.

During the same period, the USD Index, which shows the value of the USD in comparison to six major currencies, fell 0.2% 96.78. A decrease in the USD Index means a relatively weak U.S. dollar.

Marketable securities such as government and government agency bonds and asset-backed securities increased by US$0.47 billion from a month ago to US$376.25 billion while deposits in foreign central banks and major global banks fell US$0.19 billion to US$16.53 billion. The IMF SDR edged down by US$50 million to US$3.41 billion.

The IMF position remained at US$2 billion. Likewise, the gold reserves remained at US$4.79 billion. As of the end of last month, South Korea ranked eighth in the world in terms of the size of foreign exchange reserves. China (US$3.0531 trillion) topped the list, followed by Japan (US$1.2529 trillion) and Switzerland (US$794.5 billion).

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