Washington: The United States has maintained South Korea and nine other economies on its watch list for monitoring foreign exchange policies, according to a Treasury Department report released Thursday. The list is part of the department's semiannual "Report to Congress on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States."

According to Yonhap News Agency, the latest monitoring list includes South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Germany, Ireland, and Switzerland. These countries were also present in the previous report issued in January. South Korea, which was temporarily removed from the list in November 2023 after being included since April 2016, was placed back on it in November 2024 and has remained there since.

The report highlighted a significant increase in South Korea's current account surplus, which rose to 6.6 percent of GDP last year from 5.3 percent in 2024. This growth is largely attributed to goods trade, particularly in semiconductors and other technology-related products. Additionally, the report noted sustained depreciation pressure on the Korean won.

The Treasury Department stated in January that the depreciation pressures were inconsistent with Korea's strong economic fundamentals and expressed concerns over excess volatility in the foreign exchange market. It was reported that Korean authorities focused on mitigating this volatility during the report period amid depreciation pressure on the won.

The U.S. places trading partners on the monitoring list if they meet two of the three criteria outlined in the U.S. Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. These criteria include a bilateral trade surplus with the U.S. of at least $15 billion, a material current account surplus of at least 3 percent of GDP, and persistent, one-sided intervention in the foreign currency market for at least eight months during a year, with net purchases totaling at least 2 percent of an economy's GDP over a 12-month period.