Korean Job Discussion Forums

[UrbanStyle]

Anyone know if or when the won is projected to go back to 1000 won per 1 us dollar? - thanks!

[Fazer]

I think it will be a while, I think the central government is trying to keep it close to where it is in order to make Korean exports attractive. I don't understand it too well, but I read about massive dollar buying in order to keep the won de-valued and gain a competitive edge over competitors in the same export markets. Boy, I miss the 950 won to the US dollar days, I got spoiled!

[Lokisama]

According to forecasts.org, the won is slowly gaining on the dollar. They predict the exchange rate of 1100 won to 1 dollar for June 2010.

Check out http://forecasts.org/won.htm

[UrbanStyle]

Thanx guys, that is very helpful!

[Jane]

Last week Korea more than hinted that it will no longer devalue the won in accordance with the US $. Furthermore, the US $ index is showing new lows, meaning the dollar is losing value thanks to all that inflation they're creating.
I expect to see the KRW gain some ground on the dollar in the next year or two.

[GwangjuParents]

Dubai is going bankrupt and people are getting nervous again, which usually results in a $$$ flight from countries like Korea to the USD and Yen.

Won dropped quite a bit today against the USD.

I say: bring it on!

[Forever]

[Big Mac]

I'm going to school in Australia next year and I'm more interested right now in the value of the Won versus the Australian dollar. It's been pretty crappy the last few months and seems to be getting worse. It means school is going to be a lot more expensive for me than I expected!

It's really hard to find prediction info about the KRW/AUD rate. All the information seems to be about the US dollar, which is really annoying. So I'm really in the dark about what to expect.

[Old Gil]

April 7th 2010, you can take that downtown and PRINT IT

[Cerberus]

[PeterDragon]

I've been watching the won carefully for the past several months--- checking on it almost daily by doing this Google search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=1000+krw+to+usd&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g2

Overall the 1000 note has been going up a penny a month for the last several months. Assuming that continues, we're looking at 14-16 months before the won is neck in neck with the dollar. I certainly think the trend is going to continue upward. Whether 1000 won reaches a dollar in under a year, over a year, under two years... etc... is hard to predict on the other hand.

As for the forecast chart linked above, I've been following it for about a year. Its general predictions for growth are true, but it's overly optimistic on the rate of growth. Thus far the won has been revaluing about 50-60% slower than that chart would indicate.

[caribmon]

Because Korea imports 100% of its energy and most of its raw materials and food, the won cannot appreciate much more than 10% per annum from the 1000:1 level. It will take the US many years to rebuild the manufacturing industry. Until then, Korean currency will slowly increase. But in 2013 Korea will enter a massive depression when oil production is 75 million barrels per day and the price is $200. At that level, it is cheaper to make most everything locally. Everything is made with robots anyway so the determining factor today is shipping cost and labour cost. If you cost out injection molded parts in China or Korea, it's not much cheaper than if you do it in North America. It's just that the Chinese are pulling huge volumes with low labour cost and that more than offsets the shipping cost. Same thing with flat panel displays. They are made in huge sheets and CNC cut. All the semiconductors are robotic. Automakers are mostly robotic. At $200 oil, localization is the norm, and countries with resources begin to really starve the countries with no resources.

[ytide]

[ytide]