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Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok (right) shakes hands with Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2024. (courtesy of ROK Ministry of Finance)

The finance ministers of Korea and Japan said the two countries may take appropriate action to respond to intense volatility in the forex market.

Korean Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok and Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki released a joint statement after meeting at the World Bank, in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Their verbal intervention followed the won and yen’s rapid slide in value against the dollar.

“Regarding foreign exchange market developments, the two ministers shared serious concerns about the recent significant depreciation of the Japanese yen and the Korean won, and expressed their intention to take appropriate actions against excessive movements,” the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance said.

The won-dollar exchange rate rose to 1,400 won during trading in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, the first time it has hit that mark in 17 months, the last time being Nov. 7, 2022 (1,413.5 won).

That same afternoon, foreign exchange officials from Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea made a verbal intervention. “This extreme imbalance in the foreign exchange market is not desirable for our economy. We’re watching the situation closely, paying particular attention to exchange rate movements and the foreign exchange supply,” officials said.

 On Monday, the yen-dollar exchange rate hit 154 yen to the dollar during trading, the weakest the yen has been in around 34 years, since June 1990.

The Korean and Japanese finance ministers agreed Wednesday to reinforce cooperation for the economic development of both countries. They both recognized the importance of bilateral communication and cooperation as partners pursuing shared interests both on international issues and regional issues and agreed to keep cooperating on the multilateral stage, including meetings of finance ministers from the G20 and ASEAN Plus Three (the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with Korea, Japan and China).

The two ministers also agreed to schedule the ninth Korea-Japan Finance Ministers’ Meeting, which is supposed to be hosted by Korea, for the near future.

By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter

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