South Korea and the United States recently talked about whether Seoul could face a label as a currency manipulator. This came up after Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol shared updates on their finished foreign exchange (FX) discussions.
Koo landed back in Seoul from a U.S. trip on Saturday and told reporters that the two countries wrapped up their FX negotiations. He added that they’ll reveal the results soon, according to Yonhap news agency. His comments quickly fueled guesses that South Korea might be closer to securing a currency swap line with the U.S. That deal could help shield the local FX market from shocks tied to South Korea’s huge investment plans in America.
But the presidential office stepped in to clear things up. Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung explained that the FX talks Koo mentioned aren’t the same as the ongoing ones about tariffs. “The U.S. has already decided on currency manipulators for other countries, and they haven’t tagged South Korea as one,” Kang said.
Back in June, the U.S. Treasury kept South Korea on its watchlist for FX policies. They pointed to the country’s trade surplus and current account surplus with the U.S. as reasons. Even though South Korea avoids the full manipulator label, it’s stayed on that monitoring list since November 2024.
On the tariff front, Kang stressed that South Korea’s government is pushing forward with talks while putting national interests first. So far, negotiators haven’t made much progress on the nuts and bolts of Seoul’s $350 billion investment pledge in the U.S. The goal? Convince Washington to drop tariffs on Korean goods from 25% down to 15%.
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