Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rainism]

so you think the KRW has gotten "strong", do you?
the Korean press certainly thinks so.

baseline pre economic crisis rate for AUD , 740 won per 1 AUD

so 2.0 mil won = 2702 AUD in 2006, 2007 and earlier

today 1139 won per 1 AUD

2.0 mil today = 1756 AUD

for Canadians 869 before vs 1168 today

2.0 mil before = 2301 CDN
2.0 mil today = 1712 CDN

don't worry, it could be worse.

especially if you were Japanese or Swiss.

the won proudly continues to be one the world's crappiest currencies.

for Kiwis too..

691 vs 908

2.0 mil before - 2894 NZD
2.0 mil today - 2203 NZD

S. Africans and Brits have stayed about the same, (S. Africans slightly worse off depending on baseline start)

[Airborne9]

Well if I'm not mistaken the Canadian Dollar and Aussie Dollar are both doing pretty strongly in their own right, not only against the SK Won. Furthermore the SK Won is not doing too badly in compared to recent years especially against the Euro (bad example, what currency isnt strong against the Euro these days) and US dollar (was even doing well against the USD before Moodys and S&P were talking about ratings cuts)

I think its more of a reflection on the performance of the Aussi and Canadian economies rather than a reflection on the South Korean Won.

[TheUrbanMyth]

If you don't have student loans to pay off and are not planning to return soon or ever...it makes no real difference though.

[isisaredead]

[ttompatz]

The OP is a bit short sighted.

In 2006 the won was as strong as it had been since pre IMF (almost on parity +- with the USD).

In the early part of the decade (2001-2002) the won was trading at ~1250KRW to 1 CAD and the CAD was trading at ~1.50 CAD to 1 USD.

In the depths of the US crash in 2008 the won fell to 1500-1 CAD.

Today's FX rates are about where the won should be trading considering the fact that Korea is an export based economy and they need to import all their raw materials; weak enough to be competitive in the global markets yet strong enough to be able to actually buy the raw materials they need.

.

[Captain Corea]

Tom, I have to check, but your numbers seem quite off. I don't recall the Cnd $ hitting 1500 won in 2008, and I remember it being in the 760 range in 2002.

[tehdee]

but today the its almost 1,000 krw to 1usd.... (95 cents).
americans with debts, etc... to pay off back home are sitting pretty.

[rainism]

1) yes, it's a feather in the cap of Aussie and Canadian $, but YES, it's also reflective of the performance, or should I say, lackthereof of the Korean won.
To put it bluntly, it blows, though it's finally kept up with everyone else since the govt stopped massively interfering in 2009-2010 by keeping the exchange rate weak.

2). Ttompatz. One has to start somewhere, and I figure 2007 prior economic crisis is a good a baseline as any.. since most countries were in same situation (boomtimes). I will say you could argue won was overvalued a bit then. (early decade doesn't count.. that's IMF "aftermath", so it was weak again)

3) bottom line is that almost every OTHER foreign currency is OUTPERFORMING the won, aka even stronger against the dollar.
with some exceptions

like Pakistani rupee
Ukrainian hryvnia
nicaraguan cordoba.

and some other countries/currencies that the Koreans would be proud to compare themselves against

but it's on average still off anywhere from 15-33% against most of its Asian neighbors and other competitive currencies.

a nice little "trade advantage". I'm shocked that its Asian Tiger export competitors are tolerating this.

Against Japan, Korea won is down nearly 50%. Against China, it's around 25%. Against Thai baht, around 30% etc etc etc

if you're American you should be BENEFITTING not earning US dollars, but in Korea, you're still at least 5-10% away from merely getting back to break even.

p.s. and for those of you who say it doesn't matter if no loans. Wrong if you spend money in Korea, because you're paying more for everything as this policy has accelerated Korea's inflation rate.

weak currency = you getting it hard up the backside, even more so than under the usual Korean consumer conditions.

[rainism]

[heynice]

[rainism]

[sojusucks]

[Koreadays]

If our dollar keeps getting stronger then the only real point of coming to Korea to teach is mainly for cultural experience.

which was the point for many of us anyway.