Scott Bessent, the U.S. Treasury Minister, on the 4th (local time) noted the expected effect of supporting the yen and said the Korean won has shown excessive volatility.
Minister Bessent appeared on CNBC that day and said, "If the yen weakens, other currency will follow," adding, "We have witnessed excessive volatility in the Korean won. Many people also believe the Chinese yuan is undervalued."
Earlier, the U.S. and Japanese currency authorities confirmed that the United States recently intervened jointly in the foreign exchange market to push up the value of the yen. As the yen strengthened, the won also appreciated, leading to observations that Korean authorities had intervened as well.
Minister Bessent said, "From an economic history perspective, I see the late-1990s Asian financial crisis as partly caused by an excessively weak yen," adding, "A stable yen value is important not only for the United States but for the entire Asia region."
He added, "The Japanese government understands this well, and we are proud to be able to join the Japanese government in implementing policy and promoting stability in the region," saying, "The level of the yen can create other problems or trigger competitive currency devaluations, which is not sound."
Minister Bessent also said, "Now we will see strong growth. Japan and Korea are the two strongest countries," adding, "We are in close contact with Tokyo (including on whether to take additional action). We will do whatever it takes to support them (Japan) in a way that stabilizes the global economy."
On the 31st, at a cabinet meeting at Camp David, he placed a memo related to yen intervention in front of him. The contents were photographed by photojournalists and made public.