Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Stan Rogers]

I see the won has been weakening steadily over the last few weeks. How far will it go?

[Deja]

The WON is not weakening, but the USD is strengthening. You have to differentiate the two.
USD strengthening = things beyond SK's control completely.
KRW weakening in general = weak economy or government export helping measures.

E.g. I "think" in EUR, so in my view, the KRW is strenthening

[hogwonguy1979]

horsehockey people, last year on april 11 it was 1139 today its 1118, you've gained 1% year to year, yeah since dec its lost 2% but look long run

come back and complain when its 1600 like in 2008 or those fun days of 1997 when it was losing 10%/DAY hitting 2000 in late Dec. right now you people have nothing to biatch about

[giraffe]

I , for one, Want the won to get weaker/US $ to be stronger. But i suspect i might be one of the only ones here that want that to happen =/

[akcrono]

[hogwonguy1979]

[Zyzyfer]

It hit 1050 to the US dollar back when Kuroda said Japan would push for a 2% yearly inflation target. Korean news just prior to hitting 1050 was that countermeasures would be taken to cancel out the effects. The won dropped to 1090 to the dollar.

It has been oscillating between 1080 and 1110 since then, more toward 1110 since Cyprus. North Korea has only knocked it down against the dollar 10 won, basically.

[nicwr2002]

I always look at it the other way. For every thousand won I send home, I'm getting about .89 cents. I have to send 600,000 won home every month so I'm getting about 537 dollars out of the 600,000 won. That's not too awful.

[akcrono]

[Stan Rogers]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-03/won-drops-to-six-month-low-on-north-korea-threat-bonds-advance.html

[KimchiNinja]

Could be easy money to do some exchange plays, it calms down same as always in a couple months, and you're rich. Or you lose it all.

Hard to take any of this seriously as far as impact on South Korea.

[Stan Rogers]

It was 1166 at KEB today. The won seems to be getting weaker every day. Not a good trend.

[tran.huongthu]

[hogwonguy1979]

markets are going to be jittery until this bs with the north settles down, stock market is down 3% over the past month. a lot of people believing the us war hype machine and pulling their money out

like the situation with the north, just sit tight and let things blow over, it'll be fine in a couple of weeks

[wonkavite62]

I am interested in the person who was focused on the euro(deja). Yes, the dollar has gone up against the won. But this is not all BAD news.

1) I was mortified to learn that our beloved pound had had to be devalued. But since I will be paid in won, and the pound has declined against that currency I am now happy. It will prop up my bank balance in the U.K.

2) The good news from Christine Lagarde of the I.M.F. is that the U.S. economy is brightening and that U.S. unemployment is going down also(7% and declining). From my point of view this means that fewer Americans will have to come to Korea for financial reasons, and those who do won't be so desperate to take the first job.

3) This may mean that those hagwons who insist on hiring North Americans/ North American females will have to settle for other teachers.

4) Then there's Hurricane Kim! The current tension in Korea will probably not result in war. But it will scare some people into withdrawing their applications, especially because the application process (according to one book about teaching abroad) is now like something out of Franz Kafka's "The Trial."

It is my earnest hope that America is coming out of the economic doldrums. This can only be good news for the whole world. [/b]