South Korea Urges Exporters to Help Stabilize Won By Converting Dollar Proceeds

According to Yonhap, South Korea's finance ministry said Wednesday that the government has urged exporters to help stabilize the foreign exchange market by converting export proceeds into won. Second Vice Finance Minister Huh Chang met on the previous day with officials from major exporters including Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc. and Hyundai Motor Group to discuss cooperation on recent currency volatility. Huh said the won, which had weakened to around 1,550 won against the U.S. dollar, had recovered to the upper 1,400-won range, helped by exporters' efforts and inflows from SK hynix's American depositary receipt offering on the Nasdaq market. He added that dollar supply in the second half should improve further on the back of the semiconductor supercycle and South Korea's strong economic fundamentals. Huh also asked exporters to convert foreign currency deposits into won and bring overseas retained funds back to the country, while the companies said a stable foreign exchange environment supports investment and business management and pledged to back the government's efforts.