South Korea Sold Net $3.8 Billion to Intervene in Currency in First Half of 2019

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South Korean authorities sold a net $3.8 billion in the first six months of the year to intervene in the currency market, compared with $187 million in the second half of 2018, according to central bank data.

“It is now confirmed that the authorities constantly conducted smoothing operations during the second quarter when the won weakened rapidly,” said Min Gyeong-won, an economist at Woori Bank in Seoul. The data may prompt offshore traders to position against the won less aggressively as they become more mindful of the authorities’ intervention, he added.

The South Korean won weakened 3.7% against the dollar in the first half of the year, the worst performance among Asian currencies. It climbed 0.3% to 1,196.25 per dollar on Monday.

This is the second time the Bank of Korea has released such data. Details on the central bank’s third-quarter intervention activities will be announced at end-December.

The authorities said earlier that the Bank of Korea will only release the net figure of its foreign-currency transactions to minimize the potential market impact.

--With assistance from Daedo Kim.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hooyeon Kim in Seoul at hkim592@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tan Hwee Ann at hatan@bloomberg.net, Liau Y-Sing

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.