U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to visit Korea in July

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be visiting Korea on July 19 and 20. A currency swap with the United States has been a possibility since the last swap expired at the end of 2021.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies before the House Ways and Means Committee during a hearing on the 2023 on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 8, 2022. [AP]

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be visiting Korea on July 19 and 20.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department and the Korean Finance Ministry, Yellen will be stopping in Japan on July 12 and 13 and attending the G20 finance minister and central bank governor meeting in Bali July 15 and 16 before arriving in Korea.

On Tuesday, the ministry said Yellen will be meeting with Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, the first between the two. They are to discuss economic and financial cooperation and the strengthening of multilateral arrangements.

Yellen's visit comes at a time of global economy uncertainties, which have been affecting local financial markets and the value of the won.

Korea stocks are down almost 20 percent this year, and the currency is off almost 15 percent.

A currency swap with the United States has been a possibility since the last swap expired at the end of 2021.

"To promote sustainable growth and financial stability, including orderly and well-functioning foreign exchange markets, the two Presidents recognize the need to consult closely on foreign exchange market developments," Korea and the United States said in a joint statement when President Joe Biden visited in May.

The $60 billion currency swap between Korea and the United States expired at the end of last year and has yet to be extended. In 2008, the first swap between the two was signed.

Korea currently has currency swap arrangements with seven countries. It has an unlimited swap deal with Canada with no expiration and a $56 billion swap deal with China, which expires in 2025.

China renewed its currency swap with Korea in 2020.

This is Yellen's first visit since she was appointed as U.S. Treasury Secretary in 2021. Her last visit was in October 2018 to attend a forum not long after she stepped down as head of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

It is also the first visit by a U.S. treasury secretary not part of a larger entourage in six years. The last such visit was by Jacob Lew during the Barack Obama administration in June 2016.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]