[Editorial] Rapidly falling yen

It would be unusual for the chief of the Korean central bank to make public his intention of intervening in the foreign exchange market, and all the more so if he singled out a specific country as the one having prompted the shift in policy.

That was what Kim Choong-soo, governor of the Bank of Korea, did when he met with foreign correspondents based in Seoul last week. Kim, who used to say it would not be appropriate for the central bank head to comment on foreign exchange policy, went out of his way when he said that he would actively respond to the rapid fall in the value of the Japanese yen.

He had ample reason to target Japan for a shift in policy: As some global banking giants observed, Korea would be one of the biggest victims of what was often dubbed Japan’s “beggar-thy-neighbor” policy. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe raised the specter of a currency war when he vowed to print as much money as was needed to breathe new life into Japan’s flagging economy.

In their analyses on Japan’s new foreign exchange policy and fiscal expansion, HSBC agreed with Credit Suisse that the largest beneficiaries would be such Southeast Asian nations as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. As the banks said, Japanese corporations, given a shot in the arm, would increase imports from and expand investments in Southeast Asia.

But a low yen would be a bane for Korean industries that are competing against their Japanese rivals in the global markets in exporting electronic products, autos, offshore oil rigs and other products. As one analyst put it, Korea would be at the forefront of a bloodletting currency war.

There should be no complaint about a change in exchange rates if it properly reflects a shift in one country’s overall economic health vis--vis that of other countries. But few would believe the Korean economy has strengthened so much in relation to the Japanese economy during the past four months as to warrant the won’s huge gain against the yen.

The yen posted a 31-month low last weekend when it fell through the 90-yen-per-dollar level. It had gained 15.6 percent since Abe was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Sept. 26 last year. The yen’s fall was steeper against the won ― 18.6 percent.

With the Japanese government determined to provide ample liquidity until the consumer price index rises to 2 percent, many market watchers believe the days are numbered until the yen slides to 100 yen per dollar. They also believe the yen’s fall against the won will undoubtedly accelerate if no action is taken by the Korean government and its central bank.

Aiming to help corporations under siege to tide over what it called an exchange rate crisis, the Korean government came up with a policy package Tuesday. It focused on a wider insurance coverage of exports, mostly by small and medium enterprises, and the provision of more liquidity for them by government-funded agencies, such as the Export-Import Bank and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund.

Though these measures may be better than none, they can hardly provide Korean exporters with proper protection against the won’s rapid gain against the yen. Yet, Korea cannot afford to take the risk of undermining its fragile economic health, committing itself to printing more money and issuing more bonds than warranted, as Japan did. It has few other options than to wring its hands until Japan is pressured by the international community to abandon its policy.

Under these circumstances, Korean electronics corporations, automakers, shipbuilders, steelmakers and other businesses will have to go back to basics, focus on research and development and move up to the manufacture of higher-end products while keeping their heads above water.

In other words, they are called on to turn the current adversity into an opportunity and empower themselves to become top-tier global players to be reckoned with. If such a transformation appears to be a mission impossible, they are urged to remind themselves what their Japanese counterparts did under similar conditions.

Many of them were no less versatile and competitive when they emerged from the 1985 Plaza Accord, which had pushed up the yen to appreciate more than 50 percent against the dollar during the next two years.