South Korea is on Washington's watch list for currency manipulation... which means the U.S. is going to keep a close eye on South Korea's currency practices and macroeconomic policies.
Our Ko Roon-hee starts us off.
The Trump administration has decided to keep South Korea on its monitoring list for currency manipulation.
According to the Treasury Department's report released on Tuesday, nine countries, including China, are on the monitoring list.
The previous report had six nations on the watch list.
The report aims to identify potentially unfair currency practices... which could harm American workers and businesses.
Countries that meet two of the three criteria are placed on the watch list.
The revised criteria include... a trade surplus of at least 20-billion U.S. dollars with the U.S., a current account surplus that is at least 2-percent of GDP, and persistent intervention in foreign exchange markets.
The Treasury Department welcomed Korea's public report in March on its foreign exchange intervention.
The report emphasized it would remove South Korea from the watch list if conditions remain the same at the time of its next report.
Washington has not designated a major trade country a currency manipulator since 1994.
If a country is labeled as a currency manipulator..., this could lead to trade sanctions imposed by the U.S.
The Trump administration's decision not to label China a currency manipulator this time... has prevented trade tensions from escalating.
However, the report says it will carefully monitor developments surrounding the exchange rate issue... saying that the Renminbi depreciated by 3-point-8 percent against the dollar during the second half of 2018.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
