South Korea's foreign reserves increased for the first time in five months in July despite the appreciation of the U.S. dollar.

According to the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Wednesday, the nation's foreign currency reserves stood at 438-point-six billion U.S. dollars as of the end of last month, up 330 million dollars from a month earlier.

The rise comes after a decline of four straight months.

The central bank explained that despite a fall in the value of non-dollar assets when converted into the greenback, July saw an increase in operating profits from the reserves and foreign currency deposits at financial institutions.

As of the end of June, South Korea was the world's ninth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. China topped the list at three-point-71 trillion dollars, followed by Japan and Switzerland.