Foreign reserves diminished for the second month in a row in December.  

According to the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Wednesday, the nation's foreign currency reserves stood at 463-point-12 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of last month, down by 790 million dollars from a month earlier. 

Foreign reserves posted fresh highs for four consecutive months from July but fell in November by five-point-three billion dollars. 

The central bank said although the value of non-dollar assets when converted into the greenback increased last month, the entire amount dropped as a result of the redemption of maturing bonds that were issued to secure dollars for currency stabilization and other factors. 

As of the end of November, South Korea was the world's ninth largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. China topped the list at three-point-22 trillion dollars, followed by Japan at one-point-46 trillion dollars and Switzerland at one-point-08 trillion dollars.