Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

1 USD = 1,501.75 KRW
2,300,000 KRW = 1,532 USD
2,700,000 KRW = 1,797 USD
3,100,000 KRW = 2,064 USD
Live rates at 2009.02.21
http://www.xe.com/ucc

1 USD = 93.3400 JPY
250,000 JPY = 2,678 USD
275,000 JPY = 2,946 USD
300,000 JPY = 3,214 USD
Live rates at 2009.02.21
http://www.xe.com/ucc

1 JPY = 16.1418 KRW
2,300,000 KRW = 142,487 JPY
2,700,000 KRW = 167,267 JPY
3,100,000 KRW = 192,048 JPY
Live rates at 2009.02.21
http://www.xe.com/ucc

1 KRW = 0.0619511 JPY
250,000 JPY = 4,035,443 KRW
275,000 JPY = 4,425,061 KRW
300,000 JPY = 4,827,340 KRW
Live rates at 2009.02.21
http://www.xe.com/ucc

Korean Won to USD
1993 - 2,000,000 won at 795 KRW to US$1 (January 1993)........ $US2515........
1994- 2,000,000 won at 813 KRW to US$1 (January 1994)........ $US2460........
1995 - 2,000,000 won at 793 KRW to US$1 (January 1995)........ $US2522........
1996 - 2,000,000 won at 787 KRW to US$1 (January 1996)........ $US2541........
2009 - 2,000,000 won at 1362 KRW to US$1 (January 2009)........ $US1468
http://www.x-rates.com/d/KRW/USD/hist2009.html

Japanese Yen to USD
1993 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD January: 125 JPY, February: 121 JPY
1994 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD January: 111 JPY, February: 106 JPY
1995 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD January: 100 JPY (250,000JPY = 2,500 USD)
1996 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD January: 106 JPY, February: 106 JPY
2009 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD January: 90 JPY, February: 91 JPY
http://www.x-rates.com

1995 - South Korean Won to 1 USD
January: 793.075 KRW
February: 793.195 KRW
March: 781.813 KRW
April: 770.61 KRW
May: 764.432 KRW
June: 763.882 KRW
July: 760.045 KRW
August: 767.422 KRW
September: 772.04 KRW
October: 767.195 KRW
November: 769.781 KRW
December: 771.305 KRW
http://www.x-rates.com/d/KRW/USD/hist1995.html

1995 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD
January: 99.766 JPY
February: 98.2368 JPY
March: 90.5196 JPY
April: 83.6895 JPY
May: 85.1127 JPY
June: 84.6355 JPY
July: 87.397 JPY
August: 94.7383 JPY
September: 100.546 JPY
October: 100.839 JPY
November: 101.94 JPY
December: 101.85 JPY
http://www.x-rates.com/d/JPY/USD/hist1995.html

1996 - South Korean Won to 1 USD
January: 787 KRW --- December: 842 KRW
http://www.x-rates.com/d/KRW/USD/hist1996.html

1996 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD
January: 106 JPY --- December: 114 JPY
http://www.x-rates.com/d/JPY/USD/hist1996.html

1998 - South Korean Won to 1 USD (Average Rates)
January: 1707.3 KRW
February: 1628.42 KRW
March: 1489.36 KRW
April: 1391.55 KRW
May: 1399.05 KRW
June: 1397.77 KRW
July: 1295.76 KRW
August: 1314.29 KRW
September: 1375.54 KRW
October: 1344.14 KRW
November: 1294.01 KRW
December: 1213.22 KRW
http://www.x-rates.com/d/KRW/USD/hist1998.html

1998 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD (Average Rates)
January: 129.548 JPY
February: 125.852 JPY
March: 129.082 JPY
April: 131.754 JPY
May: 134.896 JPY
June: 140.33 JPY
July: 140.787 JPY
August: 144.68 JPY
September: 134.48 JPY
October: 121.049 JPY
November: 120.289 JPY
December: 117.071 JPY
http://www.x-rates.com/d/JPY/USD/hist1998.html

2008 - South Korean Won to 1 USD (Average Rates)
January: 941.952 KRW
February: 943.971 KRW
March: 981.735 KRW
April: 986.864 KRW
May: 1034.65 KRW
June: 1031.49 KRW
July: 1016.33 KRW
August: 1045.75 KRW
September: 1131.89 KRW
October: 1326.6 KRW
November: 1399.01 KRW
December: 1359.08 KRW
http://www.x-rates.com/d/KRW/USD/hist2008.html

2008 - Japanese Yen to 1 USD (Average Rates)
January: 107.944 JPY
February: 107.06 JPY
March: 100.756 JPY
April: 102.678 JPY
May: 104.308 JPY
June: 106.915 JPY
July: 106.849 JPY
August: 109.404 JPY
September: 106.671 JPY
October: 99.9752 JPY
November: 96.94 JPY
December: 91.2491 JPY
http://www.x-rates.com/d/JPY/USD/hist2008.html

Conversion Table: USD to KRW (Interbank rate)
Time period: 01/01/09 to 02/19/09.
Daily averages:

[Milwaukiedave]

The exchange rate made going on vacation painful. I ended up having to do more then one currency exchange in order to get a decent rate. The flip side was when I came back, I had money left over, the exchange rate is very high and I'm going to get a little back off doing a direct exchange versus the won.

[chevro1et]

[crossmr]

You must be so much fun at parties. No conversation. Just walks up to a group sets up pie chart and points at it over and over hoping someone will pay attention.

[maximmm]

What an excellent thread!

Let me try that as well then.

Weather comparison: Seoul vs Tokyo

SEOUL

Updated: 9:00 AM KST on February 21, 2009

Saturday Night
Chance of Snow. Scattered Clouds. Low: -2 �C . Wind SSW 14 km/h . Chance of precipitation 20% (trace amounts). Windchill: -4 �C .

Sunday
Chance of Rain. Overcast. High: 4 �C . Wind light. Chance of precipitation 20% (trace amounts).

Sunday Night
Partly Cloudy. Low: -2 �C . Wind light. Windchill: -3 �C .

Monday
Overcast. High: 8 �C . Wind ENE 14 km/h . Windchill: 2 �C .

Monday Night
Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. Low: 0 �C . Wind East 18 km/h . Chance of precipitation 20% (trace amounts). Windchill: -2 �C .

Tuesday
Overcast. High: 11 �C . Wind East 10 km/h . Windchill: 5 �C .

Tuesday Night
Chance of Rain. Overcast. Low: 2 �C . Wind NNW 10 km/h . Chance of precipitation 20% (water equivalent of 0.64 mm). Windchill: 2 �C .

Wednesday
Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. High: 7 �C . Wind NW 25 km/h . Chance of precipitation 20% (trace amounts). Windchill: -1 �C .

Wednesday Night
Overcast. Low: 0 �C . Wind NW 14 km/h . Windchill: -3 �C .



TOKYO

Updated: 9:00 AM JST on February 21, 2009

Saturday Night
Chance of Rain. Scattered Clouds. Low: 4 �C . Wind NNW 18 km/h . Chance of precipitation 20% (water equivalent of 0.30 mm). Windchill: 1 �C .

Sunday
Scattered Clouds. High: 14 �C . Wind SSW 18 km/h .

Sunday Night
Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. Low: 10 �C . Wind WSW 10 km/h . Chance of precipitation 50% (water equivalent of 3.71 mm).

Monday
Rain. High: 13 �C . Wind NE 32 km/h . Chance of precipitation 80% (water equivalent of 11.23 mm). Windchill: 5 �C .

Monday Night
Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. Low: 5 �C . Wind NNE 25 km/h . Chance of precipitation 30% (water equivalent of 1.23 mm). Windchill: 3 �C .

Tuesday
Chance of Rain. Scattered Clouds. High: 10 �C . Wind NE 32 km/h . Chance of precipitation 20% (trace amounts). Windchill: 3 �C .

Tuesday Night
Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. Low: 7 �C . Wind North 28 km/h . Chance of precipitation 20% (water equivalent of 0.43 mm). Windchill: 4 �C .

Wednesday
Chance of Rain. Scattered Clouds. High: 16 �C . Wind North 21 km/h . Chance of precipitation 50% (water equivalent of 4.47 mm).

Wednesday Night
Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. Low: 7 �C . Wind NNW 18 km/h . Chance of precipitation 20% (water equivalent of 0.31 mm). Windchill: 3 �C .

[losing_touch]

[smurfystew]

And your point by posting all this data is...........?

[cdninkorea]

[poet13]

While I really do appreciate Real Reality's M.O.; sometimes I wish RR would attach an opinion, or a direction to his/her posts. We can all read the news. That's a given; but we're reading your posts cause there's something important for US....

[Chet Wautlands]

Scientists predict that the Korean won (which is made of a copper alloy, not SIC (standard industrial copper) will raise in value in the second quarter of 2009 due to an increase of skepulation in that industry.

Basically, the won should be worth twice what it is now by late May.

[aquaponics08]

[poet13]

"If we have to convert our Korean pay into USD (or Cdn), we're fucked."

This is true....but if you're here long term and have the dollars...it works in reverse too. Buy Won. When it gets strong again, make out like a bandit. I did last year and scooped enough out of the economy to buy a small farm. There are a lot of people who think that buying Won is just a gamble, but I think it's less than a gamble. I believe the following. The US economy WILL recover. The world economy WILL recover. Eventually there WILL be demand for Korean manufactured goods. Eventually the Won WILL regain at least a good part of it it's value.
I believe it's just a matter of when. I'm not an economist and I don't have any unique knowledge. But I was spot-on last year and I think this year will be even better.
Buy Won. Drain the Korean economy and take it home with you.

[cobright]

The previous poster has things perfect. A currency is worth what the market demands of it. Right now the Won is nosing down because the major consumer nations are in a recession (US, Canada, England, etc). A look at market predictions based solely on business cycle suggest the economy in the states will tip back up in about a year. Factor in some massive government spending and maybe shorten that to 6 months. I say split the difference and say 8-10 months and unemployment rates will slow down and more people will be back to work earning money to fuel their buying addiction.

And alot of what we buy is made in Korea or by korean companies. Alot of it is shipped on Korean container ships. Just look at the cellphone market alone. As more american (and whatever) money comes in to buy those goods it is converted to Won and since the ammount of Won is finite, everyones Won get's a little more valuable.

Personally I'm not ready to invest in the Won yet, but until I see that monolith thing from 2001 I'm not going to panic either

[poet13]

Thanks, I guess you meant me.
My plan is wait a bit for the Won to peak...maybe 1550-1600, don't know. Just going on feelings.
When it does, I will buy 50,000US in Won. I think I'll get about 77 million Won. I'll throw in 3 more and make it an even 80 million Won.
With that 80 million Won I will buy 10 million Won 1 year time deposits. Each one after a year will give me net of tax 543,000 Won. At the end of that year, hopefully the Won will be back down to say 1200. 1100 would be sweet, but I won't be that optimistic. So then I buy back dollars. That 80 million + 4.3 million (return on TD) at 1200W/$ would give me 70,250US; almost a 40% return in one year.
I think it's a solid strategy and something would have to be terribly screwed up for it not to work. Keep in mind though, that I don't need this money. I would not advise anyone to do this with money they needed in the forseeable future.
Buy Won. Gut the economy. Get a little back for all of us who have had it put to us by our employers.

[cobright]

First I am an economist (when my paper gets printed in The Journal of Foreign Affairs you will be able to see the Fireworks from any point on the globe... still waiting though). Or maybe Economic Asianologist is a better term. But for god's sake do your own research.

It's important to remember what causes currency exchange rates to change. The scenario you describe is a probable one and we will say that the Won "strengthens" against the dollar. Simply put, the Won is demanded more and becomes more scarce so it gets more valuable.

What some other posters on the many "buy gold omgz!" threads are concerned with is the comparative currency (in this thread, the Won) rising in value against the dollar because of a devaluation of the dollar. In such a case you would increase your supply of dollars by 40% in a year but perhaps the actual buying power of your dollar supply doesn't change at all.

Investing in foreign currency (forex) is only a half-step away from a roulette table in vegas. Don't put on the table more than you can walk away from. On the plus side, there are lots of resources for trading in forex. Open a "mini-account" somewhere and get your feet wet. you might even find a few national banks you prefer to sink your money into over the Won (or dollars).