A South Korean official has stated that the recent strength of the U.S. dollar against the Korean won is a temporary situation, with the potential for appreciation pressure on the won in the future.
According to a report, the comments were made by Kim Yong-beom, head of the Presidential Policy Office, during a forum. He explained that the recent short-term depreciation of the won was partly due to foreign investors taking profits after significant gains in shares of major companies like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc. He noted that the conversion of dollar earnings from these firms back into won occurs over a multi-year cycle.
Kim Yong-beom also mentioned that South Korea is discussing international cooperation on currency matters and is in communication with companies such as Samsung and SK Hynix. The government plans to first assess whether its foreign exchange reserves are sufficient and will then explore various response measures based on that evaluation.
In addition, when discussing energy policy for the era of artificial intelligence, he suggested that South Korea should aim to construct as many nuclear power plants as possible.