S. Korea's FX reserves inch up in September

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose more than US$1 billion last month from a month earlier due to increased investment profits, the nation's central bank said Wednesday.

According to the Bank of Korea, the nation's foreign reserves were tallied at $228.2 billion as of the end of September, up $1.2 billion from a month earlier.

Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies along with International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

"Increased investment profits were the main reason behind the rise," the bank said.

South Korea was the world's fifth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves after China, Japan, Taiwan and Russia.

China had the most, $941 billion as of the end of June. Japan and Taiwan trailed with $878.7 billion and $261 billion as of the end of September, respectively. Russia had $259.9 billion worth of the reserves.

Seoul, Oct. 4 (Yonhap News)