Koo Yooncheol: "Korean Treasury Yields Have Risen Somewhat, Will Review Supply-Demand Conditions with Relevant Authorities"

Holding the Market Situation Review Meeting

Koo Yooncheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is posing for a commemorative photo with attendees before the start of the Market Situation Review meeting held at the Korea Federation of Banks in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 13th. From the left: Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service; Lee Changyong, Governor of the Bank of Korea; Koo Yooncheol, Deputy Prime Minister; Lee Eokyeon, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission.

The government stated that, as yields on Korean Treasury bonds have risen somewhat recently, it will strengthen monitoring of the overall bond market, including Treasury bonds, with a focus on the Market Situation Review Meeting.

On the morning of the 13th, at the Korea Federation of Banks in Jung-gu, Seoul, Koo Yooncheol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, held a Market Situation Review Meeting together with Lee Changyong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, Lee Eokwon, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, and made these remarks.

Regarding recent trends in the bond market, Deputy Prime Minister Koo assessed that "while stock prices have been rising, volatility has increased, and yields on Korean Treasury bonds have risen somewhat due to factors such as higher interest rates in Japan and supply-demand pressures."

He went on to say, "In response, each institution will strengthen its monitoring of the overall bond market, including Treasury bonds, with the Market Situation Review Meeting at the center," adding, "Through consultative bodies of bond-issuing institutions, we have also decided to review supply-demand conditions together with the relevant authorities and discuss our policy response direction."

The participants agreed that the recent increase in price volatility of virtual assets is unlikely to be directly transmitted to the financial market in a significant way.

The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has remained on a sharp downward trend for nearly four months up to recently, in conjunction with events such as the leveraged position liquidation incident in October last year. Since the beginning of this month, it has plunged by around 25%, including a single-day drop of more than 14% on the 5th alone.

The participants, however, agreed to inspect the overall internal controls of virtual asset exchanges and push for fundamental institutional reforms, while further strengthening market surveillance, so that risk factors in the market do not expand, such as a decline in trust in virtual assets caused by the erroneous payment incident involving 62 trillion won worth of Bitcoin at Bithumb.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Koo requested, "As external risk factors such as the direction of monetary policy in major countries and U.S. tariff policy continue to exist, I ask that each institution closely monitor market conditions even during the Lunar New Year holiday period."