U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen confirmed to be visiting Korea July 19-20

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korean financial ministry confirmed U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was making her first visit to Seoul as the fiscal policymaker under the Joe Biden administration for talks with her new Korean counterpart Choo Kyung-ho.

Yellen will visit Korea on July 19-22, as part of her first trip to the Indo-Pacific region since the former central bank chief took her new office in January 2021, according to the Korean finance ministry.

The last time a U.S. treasury secretary made a visit to Korea was in 2016.

Yellen’s visit has been closely watched by the foreign exchange market as the won’s fast fall was stalled since the report of her visit.

The Korean won recently breached the 1,300-won mark against the U.S. dollar, which previously happened only during crisis times – the 1997-1998 Asian financial meltdown, 2001-2002 dot.com bubble, and 2006-2009 global financial crisis.

The Korean currency has regained the ground since last Friday after reports of Yellen’s visit. The dollar was mostly unchanged, up 0.15 percent from previous closing, at 1,292.90 won as of 12:50 p.m. Wednesday.

Choo and Yellen plan to have a meeting to discuss various economic and financial cooperation between Seoul and Washington to fight inflation that has been threatening the global economy, according to the finance ministry.

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