South Korea is experiencing a gold investment boom, with gold banking balances exceeding ₩1.1 trillion ($825 million) in April 2025, nearly double the figure from a year ago. Physical gold demand has also surged, with April sales of gold bars reaching ₩34.87 billion ($26 million), more than four times higher than April 2024. This increased demand has caused supply shortages, forcing manufacturers to temporarily halt distribution earlier this year. Banks are now gradually resuming sales of various gold bar sizes as inventory improves, with prices in Korea’s gold market up 16.3% since the end of 2024.

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Oil Crashed 11%. Gold Went Up. That Tells You Everything.
Oil crashed 11% on Friday when Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz. Gold went up. That rare divergence — oil down, gold up, same catalyst — signals that gold’s rally is driven by monetary forces, not geopolitical ones. The war premium left oil. The monetary premium stayed in gold. Here is what that means for precious metals investors watching the Fed’s next move.




