On August 24, the won fell below the 1340 mark against the dollar, hitting a record low since April 2009.
Different from the reasons for the sharp depreciation of the yen, the main reason for the depreciation of the yen is that the Bank of Japan still pursues "Abenomics" and has maintained a loose monetary policy, while the Fed's interest rate hikes have widened the interest rate gap between the United States and Japan, and yen assets have been sold off. In exchange for US dollars, the Bank of Japan "supplied blood" to the United States, causing the yen exchange rate to collapse.
South Korea has raised interest rates by 175 basis points since August last year. Contrary to the direction of Japan's monetary policy, the collapse of the Korean won exchange rate is more due to the sluggish economy in South Korea, so that the tightening of monetary policy cannot "stop the bleeding".
According to data from the Korea Customs Service, South Korea has been running a trade deficit for four consecutive months. In the first 20 days of August, the export value increased by only 3.9% year-on-year, while the import value increased by as much as 22.1% year-on-year.
In particular, South Korea's original pillar industry-semiconductor, in the first 20 days of August, semiconductor exports decreased by 7.5% year-on-year, while imports increased by 24.1% year-on-year. The rapid development of China's semiconductors has caused a certain impact on related industries in South Korea.
In addition to the expansion of the trade deficit, South Korea is also facing severe inflation. In July, the inflation rate in South Korea reached 6.3%, a record high in 24 years, and the economic development is in the stage of "stagflation".