S.Korea's Yoon calls for urgency on markets

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S.Korea's Yoon calls for urgency on markets

SEOUL South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called for more urgency in dealing with turbulent markets as the won currency fell to a 13 -- 1 2 year low heightened fears of capital flight.

He made remarks at a meeting of top economic officials on Friday, after a weekly opinion poll showed that his approval rate had fallen to 24 per cent, the lowest level since he took office about six months ago.

In the past, Yoon said that we have built a stronger breakwater than in the past in terms of external soundness and already implemented market stabilising measures, but it is time to deal with the situation with a sense of urgency.

It was the third such meeting since Yoon took office in early May, and was attended by a central bank official and executives from several top companies, according to the presidential office.

The won lost 17 per cent of its value against the U.S. dollar this year, while the benchmark KOSPI share index fell 27 per cent in the same period, with foreigners selling a net 12 trillion won $8.38 billion in shares on the main board.

The stock market rebounded early losses by 1.7 per cent to a gain of 0.1 per cent as of 0257 GMT on Friday, although analysts did not play down the impact of Yoon's comments.

There is a growing demand for government intervention in the markets, analysts have said. The volatility is mostly related to outside factors and is in line with a global pattern, according to authorities.

As we've seen in many countries, people want government to play a bigger role in stopping markets from approaching an exploding moment, Yoon Ji-ho, chief strategist at eBEST Investment Securities.

Gallup Korea said on Friday that President Yoon's approval rate fell to 24 per cent in the latest weekly survey from 28 per cent in the previous week, compared to as high as 53 per cent in early June.