In Currency Battle Between Asian Export Giants, Taiwan is Winning

South Korean currency is biggest gainer over three months
Yuanta is watching Taiwan’s central bank, FX correlations

Genuine bundles of South Korean 50,000 won banknotes are arranged for a photograph at the Counterfeit Notes Response Center of KEB Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. The won advanced for the first day in four as top U.S. national security officials sought to damp down talk of am imminent war with North Korea following days of heightened rhetoric.Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

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By Argin Chang and Sarah Wells

November 17, 2017 at 3:46 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

There’s always competitive tension between Asia’s export giants -- and at the moment, it’s the won’s surge that has people talking.

Analysts at Yuanta Securities Co. in Taipei concluded that policy makers in Seoul have lost their grip on the South Korean currency, according to a note dated Friday, after the won strengthened past 1,100 per dollar for the first time in a year. The currency is also trading at a 12-month high versus the Taiwan dollar. The Yuanta strategists are monitoring the correlation between the Asian exchange rates, and keeping a close eye out for any signs of a reaction from Taiwan’s central bank, they wrote.