Dollar's value increasing
against South Korean wonGreenback
steadily rising in value in South Korea
By Jim Lea
Osan bureau chief
Americans in South Korea are keeping a closer
watch on currency exchange rates as the dollar steadily increases in value over the Korean
won.
The dollar’s value has increased by more
than 100 won this month.
On Saturday, the Foreign Exchange market posted
a rate of 1,209.50 won to the dollar. Banks on U.S. bases were selling won at 1,186 to the
dollar, and money changers in Pyongtaek, outside Osan Air Base, posted rates of 1,200 won
to the dollar. It was 1,205 won to the the dollar in Seoul.
The on-base bank rate on Saturday was 22 won
higher than it was two days earlier and about 80 won higher than a month ago.
“The only thing I regret is that I’ve
already done my Christmas shopping,” said Susan Williams, a military housewife living
in Pyongtaek. “But I am saving money on rent and utilities. My rent today is about
100,000 won ($84) cheaper now than it was a month ago. I’ll also save about $25 a
month on average utility bills at today’s rate.”
Korean foreign exchange analysts say the won has
become weaker because of instability in the Southeast Asian currency market, especially in
Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. They said a slide in U.S. NASDAQ stocks has
also weakened the won.
The exchange rate posted Saturday by the Foreign
Exchange market in Seoul marked a 14-month low for the won, analysts said.
The Bank of Korea predicted last week that the
end-of-the-year rate would be between 1,230 and 1,270 won to the dollar. On Saturday, an
analyst for South Korea’s second biggest bank, Hanvit Bank, said he believes the rate
will hover around 1,200 won to the dollar for the next couple of weeks and probably would
end the year at around 1,220 won.
Despite the weakening won rate, a spokesman for
the Finance Ministry in Seoul said, “There is no currency crisis in sight.”
When the South Korean economy nearly collapsed
in late 1997 and Seoul had to ask the International Monetary Fund for an unprecedented $59
billion bailout loan, the value of the dollar surged into the exchange rate stratosphere.
The exchange rate was in the 1,900 won-to-the-dollar range for more than a year and, at
one time, briefly touched 2,000 won to the dollar.
Bae Gi-chul contributed to this report.
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