▲ In this file photo taken June 4, 2026, an official piles up U.S. dollar bank notes at Hana Bank's Counterfeit Notes Response Center in Seoul. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign reserves rose by the largest amount in August due to an increase in dollar-denominated assets, the central bank said Thursday.

The country's foreign reserves stood at US$442.28 billion as of end-August, up $14.33 billion from a month earlier, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The on-month gain marked the largest increase since the BOK began compiling the data in 1971, while the balance marked the highest level since May 2022, when it stood at $447.71 billion.

The BOK attributed the sharp increase to a rise in foreign currency deposits held by financial institutions, as well as an increase in the U.S.-dollar value of overseas assets and management profits.

Foreign securities, including U.S. Treasuries, increased $7.07 billion from a month earlier to $387.07 billion at end-August, accounting for 87.5 percent of the country's total foreign reserves.

The value of foreign currency deposits rose $7.17 billion to $30.3 billion, while special drawing rights (SDRs) rose $60 million to $15.77 billion.

Gold bullion holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.

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