By Cynthia Kim and Yena Park
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s deputy finance minister Choi Ji-young met with Assistant Secretary for International Finance at the U.S. Treasury, Robert Kaproth, to discuss the dollar/won market on May 5, a South Korean government official said on Wednesday.
The two met on the sidelines of the 58th ADB Annual Meeting in Milan, Italy, after Seoul and Washington said in April they would try to come up with a trade package aimed at removing U.S. tariffs before a pause on reciprocal tariffs is lifted in July.
The U.S. and South Korea on April 25 agreed to craft a trade package going forward where tariffs, economic security, investment and forex policies would be discussed.
On Wednesday, the won gained 1.4% against the dollar to 1,398.40 as of 0830 GMT, extending gains to breach the key psychological level of 1,400 per dollar.
The won was the worst performer among emerging Asian currencies last year, having fallen more than 14% against the dollar.
“News that U.S. and South Korea are discussing forex could be part of the reason why the won is up, but we need to monitor further to see flows behind this as the gains were quite substantial in the afternoon,” a local forex dealer said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is due to meet Ahn Duk-geun, Seoul’s trade minister, on Friday on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in South Korea to discuss a broad range of trade issues, according to officials.
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim and Yena Park; Additional reporting by Youn Ah Moon Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Ed Davies)
