On July 23, 2026 (local time), the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Donald Trump administration redesignated South Korea and nine other major trading partners as currency monitoring list countries, signaling continued surveillance of the Korean economy.
The U.S. Treasury announced this decision through a semi-annual report on "Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners" released that day. South Korea was included on the monitoring list alongside nine other countries—China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, and Thailand—continuing from the January report. This reflects the Trump administration's commitment to closely monitoring the exchange rate policies of major trading partners.
The report presented somewhat contradictory analysis regarding South Korea's exchange rate policy. The U.S. Treasury noted that "despite large current account surpluses, the Korean won has faced continued depreciation pressure." This represents a divergence from conventional economic principles, and the assessment that the won remains weak despite large surpluses reflects the U.S. Treasury's perception of South Korea's economic situation in international markets.
Simultaneously, the U.S. Treasury gave positive marks to South Korean authorities' efforts to open the foreign exchange market. The Treasury stated that "South Korean authorities have shown progress in easing restrictions on foreign investors' participation in the domestic foreign exchange market, which is expected to benefit market liquidity and price discovery functions in the medium term." This suggests that South Korea's efforts to modernize its foreign exchange market are receiving international recognition.