Bank of Korea voting member Hwang Kunil said the recent pace of Korean won appreciation has been slightly faster than expected and authorities should focus on exchange-rate volatility and the speed of moves rather than levels. He attributed the run-up to a surge in dollar inflows from global AI infrastructure spending, which has lifted demand for SK Hynix and Samsung specialty memory chips. He added that, after adjusting for Korea’s large current-account surplus and foreign-investor rebalancing,

Bank of Korea voting member Hwang Kunil said the recent pace of Korean won appreciation has been slightly faster than expected and authorities should focus on exchange-rate volatility and the speed of moves rather than levels. He attributed the run-up to a surge in dollar inflows from global AI infrastructure spending, which has lifted demand for SK Hynix and Samsung specialty memory chips. He added that, after adjusting for Korea’s large current-account surplus and foreign-investor rebalancing, downward pressure on the exchange rate still exists.