Bank of Korea Ends 13-Year Gold Hiatus with $250 Million ETF Purchase

After a 13-year hiatus, the Bank of Korea has started gold investing once more by purchasing around $250.4 million worth of SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) shares in the second quarter of 2026. Purchasing 679,765 shares—a position not reported in its first-quarter filing—the central bank made its first gold-related action since 2013 when it acquired 20 tonnes of actual gold. This ETF holding, which is noted as a foreign-security investment in South Korea's foreign-exchange reserves, gives price exposure to gold without therefore raising the BOK's actual bullion holdings.

The deal marks a conscious change in reserve-management approach meant to diversify and guard against several hazards. Gold acts as a hedge against inflation, currency depreciation, overreliance on dollar assets, volatility in world bond and stock markets, geopolitical conflicts, sanctions, and inflation. The BOK's indications of buying locally manufactured gold suggest that the ETF purchase fits within a larger, ongoing campaign to raise gold's strategic significance in its reserves.

Though its direct pricing effect is minimal given the somewhat modest size relative to the worldwide gold market, this action is seen as positive for gold market mood. Its bigger meaning is in the institutional precedent it creates, showing how a big Asian central bank could get gold exposure via an ETF without having the storage, shipping, and liquidity issues of actual gold. The move supports the current worldwide trend of reserve diversification away from high reliance on dollar-denominated assets.