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Flood of traders crashes Korea Gold Exchange website with price at historic high

Published: 07 Feb. 2025, 19:10 Updated: 07 Feb. 2025, 19:30

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

Gold bars are displayed at the Korea Gold Exchange in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Feb. 6. [NEWS1]

Traders have been experiencing unusually long wait times when attempting to access the Korea Gold Exchange's website since Wednesday as investors flock to the safe-haven asset while its prices surged worldwide.

Access to the website was delayed starting early Thursday due to high traffic, with the number of users waiting for it to load reaching 20,000 by 11:30 a.m., that day. A similar state was reported on Friday, with hundreds of users stuck in its virtual waiting room through the afternoon. The website was back to normal operation, without delays, as of 6 p.m. that day.

Gold prices have surged across the globe following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

It was trading at 579,000 won ($400.65) per 3.75 kilograms (8.27 pounds) on the Korea Gold Exchange on Friday, up 56.5 percent from a year earlier. The price has risen 9.9 percent since the beginning of this year.

The Korea Gold Exchange website displays a waiting room at 4 p.m. Feb. 7 due to high traffic. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

On the Korea Exchange, the price of gold has soared for five consecutive sessions since Jan. 24 and peaked at an all-time high of 147,820 won per 1 kilogram on Wednesday before closing at 145,600 on Friday.

The asset hit a fresh high on the global market as well, breaking records for five straight sessions to peak at $2,882.16 per ounce on Wednesday before moderating at $2,853.16 the following day.

Investors have been rushing to pick up bullion, a conventional safe-haven asset, as Trump’s tariff threats loom over the global economy.

While the implementation Washington’s major 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico has been postponed a month, its additional 10 percent tariff on China took effect on Feb. 4. China announced a retaliatory 15 percent tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas and a 10 percent tariff on crude, both of which are set to take effect on Monday.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]