Korea's foreign exchange reserves in May were $426.99 billion, down $880 million from the end of the previous month ($427.88 billion), the Bank of Korea said on the 4th. The Bank of Korea explained that the drop was due to a foreign exchange swap concluded as part of market-stabilization measures, under which it lent dollars to the National Pension Service in exchange for won.
According to the "foreign exchange reserves at the end of May" released by the Bank of Korea that day, the reserves consisted of securities $380.68 billion (89.2%), deposits $21.35 billion (5%), International Monetary Fund special drawing rights (SDR) $15.78 billion (3.7%), gold $4.79 billion (1.1%), and International Monetary Fund (IMF) position $4.4 billion (1%). The IMF position refers to an IMF-related claim that member countries hold through paid-in investment and other contributions.
Korea's foreign exchange reserves rank 12th in the world. Above Korea are Hong Kong ($442.1 billion), France ($449.4 billion), and Italy ($456.1 billion). China ranks first in foreign exchange reserves with $3.4105 trillion. Following China are Japan ($1.383 trillion), Switzerland ($1.0698 trillion), and Russia ($749 billion).