According to Sina Finance, citing MoneyToday, the Bank of Korea will buy about 1 ton of domestically produced gold in December, worth 200 billion won. It will be the bank's first physical gold purchase in 13 years.

The Bank of Korea said it will conduct its first transaction on December 14 after building the system needed for domestic gold trading. It also began indirect gold investment in the second quarter by buying $250 million of gold ETFs.

The bank may buy gold that domestic producers had originally planned to export, allowing it to pay in won without using foreign exchange. As of the end of August, the bank held 104.4 tons of physical gold, valued at $14.88 billion at market prices and equal to 3.4% of its foreign exchange reserves.