Weak won lifts BOK foreign asset returns

Korea's central bank posted nearly 17 trillion won ($12.5 billion) in returns from foreign assets in 2025, helped by a weaker won and a rally in stock markets, data from the bank showed Sunday.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) recorded 16.9 trillion won in returns on foreign assets last year, up 32 percent from a year earlier, according to data submitted to a lawmaker from the main opposition People Power Party.

"The won's weakness against the dollar and a rally in stock markets drove up net income linked to foreign assets," the BOK said in its 2025 annual report, released in March.

Returns on foreign assets rose from around 8 trillion won annually from 2016 to 2018 to 13.8 trillion won in 2021, before plunging to 3.9 trillion won in 2022.

Won-denominated returns from securities holdings, interest on bank deposits, dividends and stock sales rebounded to 4.9 trillion won in 2023, and jumped to 12.8 trillion won in 2024.

Yonhap