S. Korea's foreign-exchange policy intact after U.S. designation: minister

SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance ministry said Saturday the country's foreign exchange policies will remain unaffected by the latest United States' move to put Seoul on its so-called "monitoring list."

"As South Korea avoided the manipulator designation, there won't be any significant changes in the foreign exchange polices," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said. The remark came as the U.S. Treasury Department put South Korea on its "monitoring list" for foreign exchange policies on Friday.

China, Japan, Taiwan and Germany were also included on the list.

The U.S. Treasury Department designates a country as "manipulator" of foreign exchange if it maintains considerable trade surplus against the U.S., posts a current account surplus valued more than 3 percent of the gross domestic product, and intervenes in the foreign exchange market.

If a country is designated a manipulator, it may face strong regulations on trade and investment. No country was found, according to the set standard, to be manipulating the rate of exchange between its currency and the greenback.
South Korea was not included as it was not considered to have made repetitive interventions in the foreign exchange market.

"Although South Korea is included on the monitoring list, this always happens with the U.S. department. There will be no changes (in the country's policies)," Yoo added.

colin@yna.co.kr
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