Finance minister to attend G-20 finance ministers meeting this week

All News 15:08 April 18, 2018

SEJONG, April 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance minister will attend the upcoming Group of 20 (G-20) meeting later this week to discuss current global financial and economic issues, the finance ministry said Wednesday.

Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon will head to Washington, D.C. on Thursday for the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting that runs from Thursday to Friday (local time), according to the ministry.

He will also participate in the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) conference to exchange views on a spate of pending issues, such as imbalance in global trade.

The minister will meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and other key figures, such as World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim.

During his stay in Washington, the finance minister will also meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s chief, Christine Lagarde, to discuss a variety of issues.

Kim said earlier he will discuss the country's currency market-related issues, such as how to reveal records of its market interventions, with the IMF chief.

The finance ministry has said that South Korea is considering disclosing details of its interventions in the foreign exchange market in a move to boost transparency and clear itself of suspicion of meddling in exchange rates.

South Korea's financial authorities have persistently claimed they do not interfere in the foreign exchange market but engage in "smoothing operations" against extreme one-sided movements.