[Yoon Seok-yeol Impeachment] Choi Sang-mok Economic Team "Full Effort to Maintain Economic Stability and Credibility for Two Months" (Comprehensive)

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, is presiding over the Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 4th.

원본보기 아이콘

On the 4th, following the Constitutional Court's decision to uphold the impeachment and remove President Yoon Seok-yeol from office, economic ministries moved swiftly to minimize the impact on financial, foreign exchange, and real markets. They also pledged to make every effort to maintain national credibility during the upcoming two-month presidential election preparation period.

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, held an economic ministers' meeting at the Government Seoul Office in the afternoon to discuss the current economic impacts by sector following the impeachment ruling and the future response direction.

The meeting was attended by heads of the Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Fair Trade Commission, and Financial Services Commission.

The attendees stated, "Although no unusual economic trends have been observed since the impeachment ruling, given the delayed domestic demand recovery, wildfire damages, and the increased burden on domestic companies and the overall macroeconomy due to the U.S. imposing reciprocal tariffs, the economic ministries will act as one team over the next two months to manage the economy as stably as possible and to protect national credibility."

They added, "We share the recognition that the passage of an essential supplementary budget of around 10 trillion won through the National Assembly within April is extremely urgent to respond to trade risks, strengthen artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness, and support livelihoods such as small business owners, and we will communicate more closely with the National Assembly."

Before the economic ministers' meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Choi held a macroeconomic and financial issues briefing attended by Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, Kim Byung-hwan, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, to review financial and foreign exchange market trends following the Constitutional Court's impeachment ruling and the reciprocal tariff measures.

The attendees agreed to closely monitor market conditions mainly through the F4 meetings and to implement available market stabilization measures according to situational response plans if necessary.

Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, chaired an emergency financial situation review meeting in the afternoon and urged all employees to maintain vigilance under the emergency response system.

He assessed, "The external environment is in a precarious state that is difficult to predict due to concerns over trade wars caused by retaliatory tariffs by countries, the possibility of a global economic recession due to reduced trade, and backlash against the U.S.-centered economic and financial system," adding, "Considering domestic and international uncertainties, volatility in the domestic market can expand at any time," and requested, "Please closely monitor the short- and long-term financing conditions of companies heavily impacted by tariff shocks."

He further stated, "We will conduct detailed analyses of the impact on major industrial supply chains exposed to high tariffs according to the shock transmission channels and review various support measures to ensure smooth supply of funds necessary for companies' tariff responses and business restructuring."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.