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| ▲ A photo provided by the Bank of Korea of Kwon Min-soo, new head of its reserve management group (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) BOK-reserve management chief
(LEAD) BOK appoints new reserve management group chief
(ATTN: ADDS details of BOK's reserve management status in bottom 4 paras)
SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday it has appointed Kwon Min-soo, the deputy chief of its reserve management group, as the group's new head.
Kwon is an international finance expert who has spent most of his career at the reserve management group, the BOK's international affairs department and the BOK's New York office.
Kwon is credited with contributing to efficient management of foreign reserves amid the COVID-19 pandemic, high inflation and major economies' monetary tightening policy.
For reserve management, the BOK invests in cashable assets, such as U.S. treasury bills; direct investment assets, such as mid- to long-term bonds issued by major countries; and assets entrusted to international organizations, global asset management firms and others, such as bond funds and stock funds.
As of end-2022, direct investment assets accounted for 65.7 percent of foreign reserves the BOK holds outside of South Korea, followed by entrusted assets at 24.3 percent and cashable assets at 10 percent, according to central bank data.
The BOK also diversifies its investment in foreign currencies, mainly holding U.S. dollars, euros, Japanese yen, British pounds, Australian dollars and Canadian dollars. From 2012, the BOK also started to invest in Chinese yuan.
As of last year, U.S. dollars took up 72 percent of the BOK's foreign currency reserve.
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