Treasury
3-MO 3.89% unch 6-MO 3.98% -2bp 1-YR 4.03% -1bp 2-YR 4.18% -2bp 3-YR 4.24% -1bp 5-YR 4.33% unch 7-YR 4.47% unch 10-YR 4.63% unch 20-YR 5.18% unch 30-YR 5.17% -1bp 3-MO 3.89% unch 6-MO 3.98% -2bp 1-YR 4.03% -1bp 2-YR 4.18% -2bp 3-YR 4.24% -1bp 5-YR 4.33% unch 7-YR 4.47% unch 10-YR 4.63% unch 20-YR 5.18% unch 30-YR 5.17% -1bp 3-MO 3.89% unch 6-MO 3.98% -2bp 1-YR 4.03% -1bp 2-YR 4.18% -2bp 3-YR 4.24% -1bp 5-YR 4.33% unch 7-YR 4.47% unch 10-YR 4.63% unch 20-YR 5.18% unch 30-YR 5.17% -1bp 3-MO 3.89% unch 6-MO 3.98% -2bp 1-YR 4.03% -1bp 2-YR 4.18% -2bp 3-YR 4.24% -1bp 5-YR 4.33% unch 7-YR 4.47% unch 10-YR 4.63% unch 20-YR 5.18% unch 30-YR 5.17% -1bp 3-MO 3.89% unch 6-MO 3.98% -2bp 1-YR 4.03% -1bp 2-YR 4.18% -2bp 3-YR 4.24% -1bp 5-YR 4.33% unch 7-YR 4.47% unch 10-YR 4.63% unch 20-YR 5.18% unch 30-YR 5.17% -1bp 3-MO 3.89% unch 6-MO 3.98% -2bp 1-YR 4.03% -1bp 2-YR 4.18% -2bp 3-YR 4.24% -1bp 5-YR 4.33% unch 7-YR 4.47% unch 10-YR 4.63% unch 20-YR 5.18% unch 30-YR 5.17% -1bp
US Treasury par yield curve · Aug 5 · Source: U.S. Treasury
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
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South Korea

Korea's June exports rose 84.5 percent and the current account surplus reached $49.73bn, while foreign portfolio investment in Korean shares recorded minus $31.61bn

Money & World
The Editorial Team ·
A close crop of undyed cream cotton cloth woven in a basketweave, pairs of thick yarns crossing over and under one another in an even square grid.
Photo: Kaboompics / Pexels

Two lines in the same table point in opposite directions.

The Bank of Korea published its preliminary balance of payments for June on Thursday morning in Seoul. Goods exports came in at $112.37bn, an increase of 84.5 percent on June 2025. In the same month, the equity component of foreign portfolio investment in Korea recorded minus $31.61bn.

Both numbers are in one document. Neither is explained in it.

The current account

June's current account surplus was $49.73bn, against $38.61bn in May and $13.97bn in June 2025.

The goods balance did nearly all of the work. Exports of $112.37bn against imports of $64.48bn on a free on board basis left a goods surplus of $47.89bn. Import growth was strong on its own terms, at 38.6 percent, and it was less than half the pace of exports.

Services ran a deficit of $1.29bn, wider than May's $1.09bn. The bank attributes the deficit mainly to other business services, at minus $1.59bn, and processing services. Travel was in surplus at $440m, which is a reversal from a $1.04bn travel deficit in June last year.

Primary income added a surplus of $3.27bn, of which dividend income accounted for $2.56bn.

The half year

Take the first six months together and the scale is easier to read.

The current account surplus for January to June is $191.01bn. For the same six months of 2025 it was $47.87bn. Exports over the half came to $528.08bn against $342.19bn, a rise of 54.3 percent, while imports rose 17.6 percent to $334.23bn.

The export line was falling a year ago. The 2025 first-half figure carries a year-on-year change of minus 0.8 percent.

The financial account

The financial account recorded a $46.71bn increase in net assets.

Inside it, foreign portfolio investment in Korea fell by $26.32bn. Equities account for more than all of that, at minus $31.61bn, offset by $5.29bn of debt securities. Korean investors added $3.56bn abroad, led by equities. Direct investment moved both ways, with $8.01bn out and $4.63bn in. Reserve assets rose $1.45bn.

One footnote worth reading before comparing anything

The release carries a note stating that balance of payments trade follows the change of ownership principle in the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund's balance of payments manual, which counts transactions between residents and non-residents wherever they occur, and that this differs from customs-basis trade, which counts goods declared through Korean customs.

The two series are not interchangeable. A figure taken from one and set against a figure taken from the other is not a comparison.

The document: Bank of Korea, Balance of Payments during June 2026 (preliminary), release 2026-08-02, 6 August 2026.

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