Seoul: Foreign currency deposits in South Korea experienced a decline for the first time in three months in January, driven by a reduction in corporate deposits, as indicated by data from the central bank on Friday. The outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to US$118.03 billion at the end of January, marking a decrease of $1.4 billion from the previous month, based on the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). According to Yonhap News Agency, this decline marked the first on-month reduction since October, following increases in November and December that had pushed the figure to a record high amid a weakened won and heightened foreign exchange market volatility. The term "residents" encompasses South Korean citizens, foreigners residing in the country for over six months, and foreign companies, with interbank deposits being excluded from the data. Corporate foreign currency deposits saw a reduction of $1.82 billion from the previous month, totaling $100.06 billion, whereas individual holdings increased by $420 million to $17.35 billion. Analyzing by currency, U.S. dollar-denominated deposits rose by $400 million to $96.34 billion, and Japanese yen deposits increased by $520 million to $9.51 billion. Conversely, euro-denominated deposits experienced a decrease of $2.36 billion to $9.39 billion, while Chinese yuan deposits declined by $70 million to $1.38 billion, as per the data. The local currency has recovered from a multi-year low of nearly 1,500 won per U.S. dollar observed late last year and has been fluctuating around the 1,430 won level. In the context of ongoing volatility, the won opened at 1,432.2 per dollar on Friday, showing a decline of 6.4 won from the previous session.