South Korea Remains on US Currency Monitor List

The U.S. Treasury has kept South Korea on its currency monitoring list in the latest semiannual report, maintaining the designation for the fourth consecutive time since mid-2024. South Korea meets the thresholds for a trade surplus with the United States and a current account surplus, but does not meet the persistent foreign exchange market intervention criterion. The won has faced sustained depreciation pressure despite Korea’s large external surpluses, prompting ongoing scrutiny of its exchange-rate policies. The Treasury also notes progress in reforms to Korea’s foreign exchange market, including easing restrictions on foreign investor participation to improve liquidity and price discovery. The monitoring list includes 10 economies, with Korea among others such as Japan, China, Germany and Singapore, and its status remains unchanged from January. Korea was briefly removed from the list in 2023 but was reinstated in November 2024 and has remained on the list since.