Blue House: "Redesignation as Currency Monitoring Country Was a Mechanical Decision by U.S. Treasury"

원본보기 아이콘

A Blue House official stated on January 30 that the Trump administration's decision to redesignate South Korea as a currency monitoring country was understood to be "somewhat mechanically determined based on the U.S. Treasury Department's evaluation criteria."

On January 29 (local time), the U.S. Treasury Department redesignated South Korea as a currency monitoring country. If a country meets two out of the following three conditions- a trade surplus with the U.S. of more than 15 billion dollars, a current account surplus exceeding 3% of GDP, and net purchases of dollars in more than eight out of the past twelve months- it is classified as a "monitoring country." If all three conditions are met, it is designated as a "currency manipulator." South Korea met the first and second conditions.

The Blue House official also explained, "In the currency report, the U.S. Treasury Department reaffirmed that the recent weakness of the Korean won does not align with South Korea's economic fundamentals." The Treasury Department concluded in its latest report that "the depreciation of the Korean won is inconsistent with the country's economic fundamentals." Regarding South Korea's intervention in the foreign exchange market, the department interpreted it as "primarily focused on mitigating volatility."

The Blue House official added, "The foreign exchange authorities are communicating closely with the Treasury Department and will continue to do so going forward."

South Korea was first designated as a monitoring country in April 2016 and was removed from the list in November 2023. However, after being redesignated as a currency monitoring country in November 2024, it has maintained this status.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.