Seoul defends currency policy against US criticism

By Kim Tong-hyung

Korean policymakers have rebuffed criticism of the nation’s exchange rate policy by the United States, denying that the country is keeping its currency artificially low.

The fear that Washington will press Seoul harder to appreciate the won appears to be influencing the foreign exchange market. The won climbed against the dollar for the third consecutive day and threatened to surge above the 1,100-won mark.

In a currency report published last week, the U.S. Treasury criticized Asia’s fourth largest economy for its control of the Korean won. It claimed the country’s recovering economy and rebounding current account surplus meant that there was “room for a greater degree of exchange rate flexibility and less intervention.”