Overview
- The Bank of Korea disclosed Thursday that it holds 679,765 shares of the SPDR Gold Trust worth $250.4 million at the end of the second quarter, marking its first gold investment in 13 years.
- The central bank classifies gold ETFs as foreign securities and includes them in its foreign-exchange reserves, but it did not specify exactly when the ETF position was bought and the holding was absent from its end‑Q1 filing.
- Separately, the BOK has set up a conditional, phased program to buy domestically produced physical gold that requires secure KSD storage and planned OTC block trades on the Korea Exchange to limit market disruption.
- Market participants noted a rebound in GLD prices to about $400 and view the BOK’s move as part of a wider trend of central banks adding gold, which could support higher gold prices and shift reserve-management expectations.
- Bloomberg Economics estimates the BOK held about 104.4 metric tons of gold as of June 2026, roughly 1.1% of reserves, and the bank says domestic purchases will be modest at first to avoid disrupting Korea’s limited near-term supply and to reduce dollar exposure.