S. Korea''s foreign reserves at record in aug

South Korea''s foreign exchange reserves rose to a fresh record high in August as investment profits increased, the central bank said Friday. Reserves totaled $312.19 billion at the end of August, topping the previous high of $311.03 billion set just a month earlier. The reserves rose by $1.16 billion from the end of July. "The increase was largely due to higher returns from the BOK''s investments in foreign securities. A rise in the value of non-dollar assets also helped, but that''s insignificant," Yonhap news agency quoted a BOK official as saying. Of the country''s total reserves, $279.84 billion, or 89.6%, was held in securities, $25.24 billion in deposits and $2.18 billion was with the International Monetary Fund. The country had another $3.61 billion in special- drawing rights at the IMF, and $1.32 billion in gold. The BOK early last month said it had bought 25 metric tons of gold from the global market in June and July--the first gold purchase in 13 years--bringing its total gold reserves to 39.4 tons as of the end of July, as it works to diversify its portfolio away from the U.S. dollar. As of the end of July, South Korea''s reserves were the seventh-largest in the world, behind China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Brazil and India.