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Koo Yun-cheol, the deputy prime minister and minister of financial system and finance of South Korea, speaks at a gathering with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman of the Abu Dhabi Government Affairs Authority, held on the central authorities advanced in Seoul on Jan. 15, 2026. (courtesy of MOEF)
South Korea’s minister of financial system and finance stated that it will likely be troublesome for South Korea to start finishing up its pledge to take a position US$20 billion yearly within the US through the first half of this yr.
Koo added that the Lee administration was not contemplating macro-prudential measures to gradual the received’s decline.
Throughout an interview with Reuters on Friday, in response to a query about South Korean investments within the US occurring through the first half of 2026, Koo reportedly responded, “It’s unlikely.”
In response to the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and South Korea concerning strategic investments, the US has the suitable to find out the place the investments go, however the related choices about the place the investments go haven’t been made but.
“Even when a nuclear energy plant will get chosen, for instance, there can be [a] course of to observe reminiscent of discovering a location, designing it and constructing them, so the preliminary outflows might be a lot smaller than that,” Koo added.
“Not lots [of investment] may be made below the present foreign exchange state of affairs, at the very least for this yr,” he added.
Koo famous {that a} depreciation of the received (enhance in won-dollar change price) attributable to herd-like conduct within the foreign exchange market is “not one thing we are able to tolerate,” whereas saying that the federal government will waste no time in finishing up market stabilization measures.
“It’s true that there’s deprecation strain within the international change market that’s considerably greater than we thought,” Koo informed Reuters. The finance minister stated that the US had additionally appreciated efforts by Seoul to cease the received’s decline.
Final week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on the social media platform X that the current depreciation of the Korean received “just isn’t consistent with Korea’s sturdy financial fundamentals.”
However Koo clarified that the federal government just isn’t contemplating further macro-prudential measures to maintain the received from falling.
Sooner or later earlier, Choi Ji-young, the deputy minister for worldwide affairs with South Korea’s Ministry of Economic system and Finance, had advised that macro-prudential measures might be up for consideration if the change price continues to climb. Koo’s drawing of the road appears to sign that the federal government just isn’t contemplating further rules that would disrupt capital flows as it’s at present looking for admission to the MSCI Developed Markets Index.
By Shin Min-jung, workers reporter
Please direct questions or feedback to [english@hani.co.kr]
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