Why Korea Has First-World Economy and Developing-Market Currency
- It is an exports powerhouse and leader in technology
- But policy makers fear it is vulnerable to capital outflows
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South Korea has cast off most of the trappings of a developing economy over the past decade, but it is heading into the 2020s with a currency that is still distinctly emerging market.
The Korean won can only be directly exchanged with the dollar and the Chinese currency, with trading overseas limited to the yuan in Shanghai. What’s more, the country’s $50 billion foreign-exchange market opens for just six-and-a-half hours a day.