[2022 National Assembly Audit] Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, "Will Respond Firmly to Foreign Exchange Market Imbalances"

Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, appeared at the National Assembly's audit of the Bank of Korea held on the 7th and is responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 7th, Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, appeared at the National Assembly audit and stated, "I hope that the kind of concentration phenomenon seen in the foreign exchange market in September does not occur again, but if it does, we have sufficient foreign exchange reserves and will respond firmly."

At the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee's audit of the Bank of Korea on the same day, Governor Lee expressed his strong intention to actively intervene in the foreign exchange market.

When Yang Kyung-sook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asked about the reason for the sharp $19.7 billion drop in foreign exchange reserves last month, he said, "The decline in September was unusually large because several uncertainties that we (the Bank of Korea) did not anticipate occurred simultaneously," adding, "The Federal Reserve's (Fed's) giant step decision, issues in the UK (financial instability), and yen speculation inevitably caused a significant concentration phenomenon, making intervention unavoidable."

Governor Lee also added, "(Recent foreign exchange market interventions) are a common global phenomenon, not just by us. For example, Japan's intervention volume is indirectly estimated to be more than twice that of our country."