Weak won lifts BOK foreign asset returns

South Korea’s central bank reported nearly 17 trillion won ($12.5 billion) in returns from foreign assets in 2025, citing a weaker won versus the dollar and a stock-market rally. Data provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK) to a lawmaker from the main opposition People Power Party shows 16.9 trillion won in returns last year, up 32% from 2024. In its 2025 annual report released in March, the BOK said the won’s weakness and higher equity prices boosted net income tied to foreign assets. Returns had risen from about 8 trillion won annually in 2016-2018 to 13.8 trillion won in 2021, before falling sharply to 3.9 trillion won in 2022.