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U.S. keeps Korea on currency monitoring list

Published: 30 Jan. 2026, 07:52 Updated: 30 Jan. 2026, 10:58

JIN MIN-JI
[email protected]

Electronic display boards in Woori Bank's dealing room in central Seoul show Korea's financial markets on Jan. 29, 2026. [YONHAP]

The United States has kept Korea on its currency monitoring list, a Treasury Department report showed on Thursday, amid recent volatility in the won against the dollar.

Korea remained on the updated list in the semiannual currency report, alongside countries including China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.

No major trading partner met all three criteria for enhanced analysis of currency practices during the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025, though the report said any efforts to resist currency depreciation against the dollar will be scrutinized.

Earlier this month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent commented on Korea’s weak won, saying the currency does not align with the country’s “economic fundamentals.”

The United States also recently discussed coordination with Japan to support the yen, according to Japanese authorities, a move that helped strengthen the won to below the 1,430-per-dollar range. The won traded at 1,426.3 per dollar at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.

BY JIN MIN-JI [[email protected]]