The Debts of the Lenders: South Korea Breaks Record in Dollar Accumulation

Nothing is free of course. The South Koreans are doing this more for political purposes than b/c they enjoy dollar bondage. I speak of course about China's pawn across their border, North Korea, as well as Greater Beijing's 21st century ambitions. No, such thoughts are not necessarily military threats but more economic ones such as the enormous sea of cheap labor that threatens to swamp the rest of Asia by bringing costs down. See prior post about America's Pacific Allies.

SEOUL, Jun 02, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) --

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose by a record US$14.29 billion in May as local banks' overseas funding conditions improved and a weaker U.S. dollar boosted the dollar value of assets in other currencies, the central bank said Tuesday.

The nation's foreign reserves totaled $226.77 billion as of the end of May, compared with $212.48 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The May figure marked the largest monthly gain since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, when the BOK began to compile related data. They also climbed to the highest level since September last year when the corresponding figure reached $239.67 billion, it added.

Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, along with International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.