South Korea's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a record high in January, aided by an increase in investment profit, the central bank said Wednesday.

The country's foreign reserves totaled a record $348.39 billion as of the end of January, up $1.93 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.

Foreign reserves had increased for the seventh straight month in December after declining by the most in 13 months in June.

Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

The BOK said that the rise in the FX reserve mainly resulted from interest gains by investing in bonds.

The growing FX reserves and current account surplus have been serving as buffers for South Korea at a time when the Federal Reserve's tapering of quantitative easing is sparking concerns about capital outflows from emerging markets.

As of the end of December, South Korea was the world's seventh-largest holder of foreign-exchange reserves. (Yonhap News)