[South Korea’s foreign reserves in September were US$440.56 billion, a month-on-month decrease of US$1.72 billion] On October 6, statistics released by the Bank of Korea (Central Bank) showed that as of the end of September, South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves were US$440.56 billion, a US$1.72 billion decrease from US$442.28 billion at the end of August, the first decline in the past four months. The Bank of Korea stated that the main reasons for the decline in the scale of foreign reserves were the decrease in foreign currency deposits in financial institutions, asset management entrusted to the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation, and the decrease in the amount of foreign exchange assets denominated in other currencies converted into U.S. dollars. South Korea's foreign reserves have increased for three consecutive months, including a month-on-month increase of US$14.33 billion in August, the largest single-month increase in history.