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Korea's foreign reserves fall for 1st time in 7 months in December: BOK

Published: 06 Jan. 2026, 08:52 Updated: 06 Jan. 2026, 14:48

An official holds up dollar bills at Hana Bank's counterfeit response center in Jung District, central Seoul, on Dec. 17, 2025. [YONHAP]

Korea's foreign reserves fell for the first time in seven months in December, the central bank said Tuesday, amid increased volatility in the foreign exchange market that prompted authorities to take a series of market stabilization measures.

The country's foreign reserves had come to $428.05 billion as of the end of December, down $2.6 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the first on-month decline since June, after reserves had risen for six consecutive months to reach their highest level since August 2022 at the end of November.

"Measures aimed at curbing volatility in the foreign exchange market acted as a factor pulling foreign reserves down," a BOK official said, without elaborating.

The local currency fell below the psychologically important 1,450 won level against the U.S. dollar in November for the first time since April and neared the weakest level in about 16 years of about 1,480 won last month. In response, authorities made strong verbal interventions and appeared to have taken steps to support the currency. On Dec. 30, the final trading day of 2025, the won was quoted at 1,439.0 per dollar, down 9.2 won from the previous session.

Foreign securities, such as U.S. Treasurys, went down $8.22 billion from a month before to $371.12 billion at the end of December, accounting for 86.7 percent of total foreign reserves. The value of foreign currency deposits, however, rose by $5.44 billion to $31.87 billion, while special drawing rights (SDRs) edged up by $150 million to $15.89 billion. Gold bullion holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.

The country's International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions grew $20 million from a month earlier to $4.37 billion at the end of December, the data showed.

Korea ranked as the world's ninth-largest holder of foreign reserves at the end of November. China topped the list, followed by Japan, Switzerland, Russia and India, according to the BOK.

Yonhap