{
  "id": 2060972,
  "title": "The net external financial assets of the nation decreased by nearly $700 billion.\n\nThis decrease is attributed to the stock market boom in the second quarter.\n\nAccording to the Bank of Korea on July 7, the net external financial assets, also referred to as ‘pure external financial assets,’ totaled $649.1 billion as of the end of June.\n\nThis represents a decrease of $677.1 billion from the end of March.\n\nThe term ‘net external financial assets’ refers to the difference between external financial assets and external financial liabilities.\n\nIt is calculated by subtracting the total amount of money that the nation owes to foreigners, such as foreign exchange reserves, from the total amount of money that foreigners owe to the nation, including direct and indirect investments.\n\nAt the end of June, external financial assets amounted to $1.98 trillion, a decrease of $350.8 billion from the end of March.\n\nExternal financial liabilities also decreased by $326.3 billion to $1.33 trillion during the same period.\n\nThe decrease in external financial assets was mainly due to a $476.6 billion decrease in portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond investments.\n\nThe decline in the stock market, as represented by the KOSPI, which fell by 12.2% from 2,754.18 at the end of March to 2,415.38 at the end of June, affected this decrease.\n\nIn contrast, direct investment increased by $89.7 billion.\n\nThe decrease in external financial liabilities was driven by a $364.7 billion decrease in direct investment.\n\nThe won-dollar exchange rate, which averaged 1,250.1 won per dollar in the second quarter, was 6.9 won lower than the average of 1,256.0 won per dollar in the first quarter.\n\nThe Bank of Korea stated that \"the decrease in net external financial assets is due to the decline in stock prices and the appreciation of the dollar.\"",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/7-2",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-20T01:02:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hankyoreh",
    "slug": "hankyoreh",
    "url": "https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/economy/economy_general/1273773.html"
  },
  "original_language": "ko",
  "account": null,
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}