Invest KOREA

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) South Korea will closely monitor the financial market and remain ready to respond "swiftly" and "actively" to any herd behavior that may intensify market volatility, a senior finance ministry official said Friday.

Vice Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho made the remarks during a meeting with other policymakers in Seoul designated to review the latest macroeconomic and financial market conditions.

"Risks facing domestic and foreign financial markets will persist this year. As expectations are rising that the global economic and financial market landscape will undergo a sea change following the U.S. move to taper off its stimulus program, uncertainty is also growing for Japan, China and other emerging countries," Choo said during the meeting.

"The government will closely monitor such risk factors arising from home and abroad, and it will respond in a preemptive manner if necessary," he said. "When any signs of a herd behavior or speculative move are spotted, we will swiftly and actively respond to help stabilize the market."

Choo expressed concerns that foreign currency market situations remain "not stable," citing the Fed's tapering move, the depreciation of the Japanese yen and possible acceleration of capital flows in and out of the financial market here. He said that volatility could further intensify down the road.

As for the yen's recent fall against the greenback, he assured that the government will carry out already-unveiled measures such as providing emergency management fund "without a hitch" to help small and medium-sized companies highly vulnerable to currency fluctuations.

"For more fundamental countermeasures, we will work hard to induce local companies to improve global competitiveness by strengthening their overall corporate health," he said.