S. Korea's foreign reserves up for second month in July despite strong dollar

South Korea's foreign reserves increased for the second straight month in July, backed by higher investment returns and the issuance of foreign exchange stabilization bonds.

According to the Bank of Korea on Tuesday, the reserves stood at 411-point-3-3 billion U.S. dollar as of the end of July, up 1-point-1-3 billion from the previous month.

A BOK official explained that despite the strong dollar weighing on the value of non-dollar assets, the foreign reserves rose thanks to new issuance of foreign currency exchange stabilization bonds and improved investment returns.

Foreign securities, including U.S. Treasuries, made up the bulk of the reserves at 365-point-1 billion dollars, or 88-point-8 percent of the total.