South Korean Exports Remain Concern for BOK

South Korean exports, which dropped in the first four months of this year, are a key concern of the Bank of Korea’s top research official.

“I’m monitoring the impact of the weak yen as Japanese companies start to lower product prices,” Chang Min, the director general of the BOK’s research department, said in an interview in his Seoul office on Monday. “We already considered the weaker yen when making April’s forecasts, but a bigger-than-expected weakness could affect exports.”

The comments come after the nation’s top currency official warned last week that Korea is stepping up scrutiny of the yen’s tumble and the damage it’s doing to exporters’ earnings. The won last month hit the strongest level against the yen since 2008, putting pressure on Korean shipments, which dropped the most in more than two years in April.

Bloomberg

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