[South Korea's Central Bank Resumes Physical Gold Purchases After 13 Years, Promoting Diversification of Foreign Exchange Reserves] BlockBeats News, August 4, according to South Korea's *Seoul Economic Daily*, South Korea's central bank has restarted its physical gold purchasing plan after 13 years. The bank will procure gold intended for export by South Korean gold producers through the Korea Exchange (KRX) gold market and the Korea Securities Depository (KSD) infrastructure. On August 3, the central bank announced that it has established a cooperative framework with the Korea Exchange, Korea Securities Depository, and gold producer LS MnM to jointly advance the procurement of domestically produced gold. Related transactions will be conducted as bulk trades on the KRX gold market, with settlement and custody handled by KSD. The central bank stated that purchasing export-oriented gold is primarily aimed at minimizing the impact on domestic gold market prices, while bulk trading reduces interference with intraday market fluctuations. This marks the first time since 2013 that South Korea's central bank has resumed physical gold purchases. Previously, the central bank accumulated 90 tons of gold between 2011 and 2013, but halted physical gold procurement due to valuation losses caused by subsequent declines in gold prices. As of the end of June this year, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves totaled $427.36 billion, with gold reserves valued at approximately $4.79 billion, accounting for only 1.1%. With major global central banks continuing to increase gold allocations, South Korea's central bank's move is seen as an effort to promote diversification of foreign exchange reserves and reduce the concentration of dollar-denominated assets. However, the central bank noted that future purchase volumes are expected to remain relatively small. South Korea's annual domestic gold production is approximately 40 to 45 tons, of which only about 4 to 5 tons are exportable. The central bank emphasized that the resumption of gold purchases is not based on predictions of gold price trends but rather determined by corporate procurement requests, domestic and international gold prices, and market conditions to decide the timing of transactions. [Original Link]