South Korea’s Foreign Exchange Stabilization Fund bought roughly $20 billion in U.S. dollars that SK Hynix repatriated after its $26.5 billion American depositary receipt listing in July, a person with direct knowledge said. The fund, overseen by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea, acquired the dollars through over-the-counter transactions—a departure from typical interventions that lets authorities replenish depleted reserves while cushioning the won from upward pressure tied to a large corporate repatriation. South Korea does not disclose the fund’s asset mix or current size; it stood at 135.1 trillion won, or about $99.0 billion, under an operational plan confirmed by the National Assembly last year, while a budget proposal projects about 106.5 trillion won, or roughly $78.0 billion. The won ranked among Asia’s weakest currencies in 2025 after nearing a 17-year low near 1,550 per dollar in late June and has since rallied more than 12% over two months, recently trading around 1,363. SK Hynix has said it plans to use the proceeds for factories and equipment to meet AI chip demand, while analysts are watching shareholder return programs from SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics that could add won demand if the firms convert dollar holdings, though whether those payouts become a durable currency catalyst remains uncertain.