Koo Yun-cheol, deputy prime minister for the economy and Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, met on the 18th with officials from major export conglomerates, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Hyundai Motor, and asked them to cooperate with the government's exchange-rate stabilization measures.
That day, Deputy Prime Minister Koo presided over a "meeting with major export corporations" at the Government Complex Seoul. Officials from Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Kia and Hyundai Motor, Hanwha Ocean, and POSCO Holdings attended.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo asked export corporations, the main agents in foreign-currency supply and demand, to cooperate closely with exchange-rate stabilization measures. Export corporations mainly convert the foreign currency they earned at the end of the month, which becomes a factor for a stronger won (a drop in the exchange rate). It is understood as a request to exchange sooner than usual and as much as possible.
At a market situation review meeting on the 14th, Deputy Prime Minister Koo said, "If the won's depreciation continues, we must respond by actively using available tools." On the 17th, appearing before the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee's plenary session, Koo said, "We will discuss a variety of policy combinations to stabilize the foreign-exchange market."
In response to Deputy Prime Minister Koo's request, the corporations attending agreed that stability in the foreign-exchange market would help smooth corporate activities. They shared the view that, to maintain the competitiveness of Korea's economy, a virtuous cycle should operate in which export profits are repatriated or invested domestically and lead to productivity gains. Export corporations agreed to actively participate in upcoming government discussions on exchange-rate stabilization.
At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Koo explained that, to boost the competitiveness of export corporations, next year's export support budget was set at 4.3 trillion won, up 2.7 trillion won from this year. Koo also promised to prepare measures to diversify exports, such as expanding the free trade agreement (FTA) network, and to pursue regulatory rationalization to enable free corporate activity.