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SummarySummary Companies Japan, S.Korea must address geopolitical challenges - SuzukiS.Korea's Choo urges Japan to restore 'white list' statusResumption of dialogue underscores mending relationsINCHEON, South Korea May 2 (Reuters) - Japan and South Korea held their first bilateral finance leaders' meeting in seven years on Tuesday, a sign relations between the two are thawing amid shared challenges from geopolitical tensions and slowing economic growth. The resumption of bilateral financial talks comes ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's planned visit to South Korea next week for talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol. "As for geo-political challenges, we're experiencing incidents like North Korea's nuclear missile development and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Regular annual dialogue between the two countries' finance ministers has been suspended since 2016 due to disputes over wartime history. Suzuki said he hoped Japan and South Korea can continue with bilateral financial dialogue and that doing so would contribute to improving relations between the two countries.

☆ Japan, South Korea finance ministers meet for 1st bilateral meeting in 7 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

INCHEON, South Korea May 2 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and his South Korean counterpart Choo Kyung-ho on Tuesday met on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meetings held this week. It was the first bilateral finance leaders' meeting in seven years, highlighting improving relations between Japan and South Korea in the face of North Korea's frequent missile launches and China's more muscular role on the global stage. Reporting by Leika Kihara and Jihoon Lee Editing by Chang-Ran KimOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan, South Korea hold first finance leaders' meeting in seven years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Japan Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki arrives for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting on April 13, 2023. Japan and South Korea held their first bilateral finance leaders' meeting in seven years on Tuesday, a sign relations between the two are thawing as they confront shared challenges from geopolitical tensions and slowing economic growth. The two countries agreed to resume regular finance dialogue "at an appropriate timing," Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters after the meeting. The resumption of bilateral financial discussions comes ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's planned visit to South Korea next week for talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol. "Japan and South Korea are important neighbors that must cooperate to address various challenges surrounding the global and economy, as well as the regional and international community," Suzuki said at the meeting with his South Korean counterpart Choo Kyung-ho.

☆ S.Korea finmin: S.Korea, Japan, China cooperation more important as world economy at inflection point
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

INCHEON, South Korea, May 2 (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister said on Tuesday that the trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan and China has became more important as the global economy stands at an inflection point. Minister Choo Kyung-ho said such cooperation would not only help the three countries, which account for more than 20% of the world economy, but also the Asian region and the world, during his opening remarks at a trilateral meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors. The countries' economic leaders met on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting of the board of governors held in Incheon, South Korea. Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SummarySummary Companies ASEAN+3 finance leaders meet in Incheon, South Korea, TuesdayJapan hopes to propose strengthening currency swap linesExpansion will offer better safeguards vs pandemic, disastersINCHEON, May 2 (Reuters) - Asian finance leaders on Tuesday will debate ways to beef up regional safeguards to better address emergency funding needs during pandemics and natural disasters, as global recession fears and volatile financial markets cloud the economic outlook. Japan, which co-chairs this year's meeting of ASEAN+3 nations with Indonesia, hopes to discuss strengthening currency swap lines, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters on Friday. Japan is keen to propose a facility that enhances usage of existing currency swap lines, and allows members to tap funds in times of emergencies such as pandemics and natural disasters, said three sources with direct knowledge of the matter. But the swap lines have never been used, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving rise to calls from within the group to make the system more easily accessible in the event of shock events. The ASEAN+3 finance leaders, including Suzuki and Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda, are meeting on the sidelines of the ADB's annual meeting in Incheon in South Korea this week.

☆ South Korea and Japan's finance ministers to hold first bilateral talks in 7 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL/TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - South Korea and Japan's finance ministers will hold a bilateral meeting early next month for the first time in seven years, heralding closer cooperation in economic policy that has been hampered by diplomatic conflict. South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told reporters during a visit to the United States that he has agreed to meet Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, according to a media pool report. "It is significant in that it will be the first step toward reviving regular bilateral meetings," Choo said, without elaborating. Regular annual meetings between the two countries' finance ministers have been suspended since 2016 due to disputes over wartime history. Financial markets will likely pay close attention to whether the finance ministers will discuss resuming a bilateral currency swap arrangement - one that had served as backstop against any potential currency crisis but which expired in February 2015.

☆ S.Korea inflation slowest in 10 months, bolsters views for no more hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The consumer price index rose 4.8% in February from a year before, Statistics Korea data showed on Monday, easing from January's 5.2%. By product category, prices of livestock products fell 3.2% from the previous month and petroleum products slid 1.3%, dragging the inflation rate lower. The inflation index rose 0.3% on a monthly basis, compared with 0.8% in the previous month and 0.5% expected by economists. The BOK held interest rates steady last month, after a year of uninterrupted hikes, and said the monetary tightening campaign would not resume if inflation followed an expected path towards moderation. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho separately said that the inflation slowdown would become clearer going forward, unless there were an external shock.

[1/2] Chinese tourists stand next to street vendors at Myeongdong shopping district in Seoul, South Korea, January 9, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiSEOUL, March 2 (Reuters) - South Korea's government on Thursday promised to boost exports and attract tourists as the country's statistics agency released January data that showed gloomy prospects for the economy. Reflecting the sense of urgency within the government, South Korea's trade minister convened a separate emergency meeting of officials from almost all ministries to press for more exports. South Korea's official forecast is for exports to drop 4.5% in 2023 compared with last year. South Korea's trade-reliant economy contracted by an estimated 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from the previous quarter as exports collapsed.

Exports fell 16.6% in January from a year earlier, trade ministry data showed, worse than an 11.3% decline predicted in a Reuters survey and the fastest drop in exports since May 2020. Imports fell 2.6% compared with a year earlier, less than a 3.6% drop predicted in the survey. As a result, the country posted a monthly trade deficit of $12.69 billion, setting a record amount for any month. Leading the sluggish trade performance in January were a 44.5% dive in semiconductor exports and a whopping 31.4% plunge in sales to China, the trade ministry data showed. The government has forecast this year's exports would fall 4.5% after posting a 6.1% gain in 2022, and the trade ministry has said it would do what it can to avert a decline.

☆ South Korea posts the worst trade deficit in its history
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

05 November 2022, South Korea, Pusan: Containers are loaded from the container freighter "Alula Express" at Busan Newport International Terminal, one of the largest container ports in the world. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa (Photo by Bernd von Jutrczenka/picture alliance via Getty Images)It marked the worst trade deficit since the agency started compiling data in 1956 and far more than the $20.6 billion trade deficit in 1996. South Korea recorded a trade deficit of $47.5 billion for 2022, official data from the customs agency showed. January exports fell $46.3 billion, or 16.6% – declining more than expectations for a drop of 11.3%. That resulted in a deficit of $12.7 billion for January, more than the $9.27 billion expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Playing down the economic slowdown as part of a global trend, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho pledged prompt support measures for exporters, such as tax breaks and administrative help. Central bank estimates showed gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.4% in the October-December period from the previous quarter. Markets showed a muted reaction to the data, which was largely in line with repeated warnings in recent weeks by the government and central bank. The central bank estimated that in 2022 the full-year value of the economy, Asia's fourth-largest, had been 2.6% larger than in 2021, when it showed growth of 4.1%. Reporting by Jihoon Lee and Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Korea's economic slump to bottom in H1 2023 - finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

FILE PHOTO: South Korea Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho attends the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, 16 July 2022. Made Nagi/Pool via REUTERSSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s finance minister said on Monday the economy is slowing at a more rapid pace than previously expected and would bottom in the first half of next year. “Our economy’s growth is expected to slow next year due to the effects from a global economic slump, and the difficulty will be focused on the first half,” Minister Choo Kyung-ho said at the opening of a meeting with the ruling party leadership. The meeting was held ahead of the government’s announcement later this week of its economic policy strategies for next year, which will be the first full-year statement for President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration since its launch in May.

☆ South Korea flags economic slump deepening for while
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Choonsik Yoo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: South Korea Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho attends the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, 16 July 2022. South Korea’s economy, the fourth-largest in Asia, relies heavily on exports ranging from cars and ships to chips and smartphones. The central bank last month cut its projection for next year’s economic growth to 1.7% from the previous 2.1% in its scheduled revision, citing falling exports and the resultant reduction likely in corporate investment. The ministry is due to unveil its 2023 economic projections and strategies on Wednesday. President Yoon, struggling against low approval ratings, says exports are the best choice for the manufacturing-heavy country to overcome its slump.

☆ South Korea's economic slump to bottom in first half of 2023, finance minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL, Dec 19 (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister said on Monday the economy is slowing at a more rapid pace than previously expected and would bottom in the first half of next year. "Our economy's growth is expected to slow next year due to the effects from a global economic slump, and the difficulty will be focused on the first half," Minister Choo Kyung-ho said at the opening of a meeting with the ruling party leadership. The meeting was held ahead of the government's announcement later this week of its economic policy strategies for next year, which will be the first full-year statement for President Yoon Suk-yeol's administration since its launch in May. Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; editing by Diane Craft and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Korea authorities to continue efforts to stabilise markets -finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL, Dec 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister said on Thursday that local financial markets have comparably stabilised recently, while reaffirming that authorities will continue to take measures for the markets to further stabilise. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said authorities will continue to proactively support companies' smooth bond issuance and strengthen liquidity support for financial institutions, as planned in the recently announced support package. The comments came before the meeting of South Korea's top economic financial officials, including the central bank governor and financial regulator chief, to discuss implications of the U.S. Federal Reserve's overnight rate decision. Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ S.Korea to expand corporate-bond buying program - finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, Oct 23 (Reuters) - South Korea's financial authorities will raise the ceiling for their corporate bond-buying facility to 16 trillion won ($11 billion) from the current 8 trillion won, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said on Sunday. The measure is aimed at easing concerns of a liquidity crunch in corporate bond and short-term money markets, Choo said after a meeting with top financial officials, including the Bank of Korea governor and financial regulatory agency chief. Commercial paper issued by securities firms will be included in the facility's purchase list, while an additional 3 trillion won of liquidity will be supplied by the Korea Securities Finance Corporation for securities firms experiencing temporary liquidity shortages, he said. ($1 = 1,428.3200 won)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing and William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Korea expands corporate bond-buying program amid credit crunch concern
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

South Korea Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho speaks with his staff attending the G-20 Finance Ministers Meeting in Bali, Indonesia on July 16, 2022. South Korea's government will expand its corporate bond-buying program among other liquidity supply measures amid growing worries about a credit crunch in bond and short-term money markets. The government will double the ceiling of its corporate bond-buying facility run by state-run banks to 16 trillion won ($11 billion), Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho said on Sunday. Commercial paper issued by securities firms will be included in the facility's purchase list, while an additional 3 trillion won of liquidity will be supplied by the Korea Securities Finance Corp for securities firms experiencing liquidity shortages, he said. The Bank of Korea's monetary policy board will also consider its own measures, such as reactivating a special purpose vehicle to purchase corporate bonds and commercial paper first introduced during the pandemic, Governor Rhee Chang-yong told reporters.

☆ S.Korea to scrap taxes for foreigners' income from bonds - minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, Oct 16 (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister said the government will scrap taxes on foreigners' income from investments in treasury bonds and monetary stabilization bonds from Monday. Speaking to reporters late on Saturday in the United States after a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers, Choo Kyung-ho said the government decided to bring forward the timing of the planned tax removal from 2023 to next week to boost capital inflows into the local bond market. FTSE Russell, a global index provider, said on Sept. 30 it had added South Korea to a list for possible inclusion in its World Government Bond Index (WGBI). "We were included in the WGBI watchlist at the end of September but were thinking there is a need to make a quick move to attract more foreign investment into our treasury bond market," Choo said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ South Korea finance minister says more foreign-exchange stabilizing measures are on the way
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SEOUL, Sept 25 (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister said the government would prepare more measures to stabilise the foreign exchange market, while downplaying the need for a currency swap arrangement with the United States. The measures include utilising the government's foreign exchange equalisation fund to meet shipbuilding companies' FX hedging demands, thereby increasing dollar supply in the local market, minister Choo Kyung-ho said during a televised interview on Sunday. It is part of FX authorities' efforts to ease volatility in the FX market, Choo said, in addition to a currency swap arrangement between the country's central bank and a pension fund announced on Friday, as they are seeing the South Korean won recently weakening at a faster pace than most peers. On a question about the possibility of a currency swap deal between the Bank of Korea and the U.S. Federal Reserve, Choo said it would definitely be helpful for the local market, but is not necessary yet in the current market situation. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jihoon Lee Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ S.Korea 20-day exports fall on holiday effects, slow global economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterA truck carrying a shipping container travels past cranes at Pyeongtaek port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, July 9, 2020. The country's imports for the same 20-day period rose 6.1%, producing a trade deficit of $4.1 billion, the Korea Customs Service data showed. Average exports per working day during the Sept. 1-20 period rose 1.8% from a year before, it added. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho held a meeting of senior government officials to review trade conditions and vowed to focus policy to help exporters. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ S.Korean won falls through key level after Fed hike
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Choonsik Yoo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A South Korea won note is seen in this illustration photo May 31, 2017. The won fell as much as 0.9% to 1,406.8 per dollar in early onshore trading, marking the first time it crossed the 1,400-won mark since late March 2009. Both the finance ministry and the central bank separately issued warnings that they would act against excessive movements in the foreign exchange market. "The authorities will introduce various measures aimed at easing a supply-demand imbalance for foreign currencies from the pension fund and foreign trading companies," Minister Choo Kyung-ho said at a meeting of senior officials. Both the Bank of Korea and the National Pension Service declined to comment on the reports.

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