Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song stated on October 12 that the decision to remove the international ranking of foreign exchange reserves from the press release was due to its diminished effectiveness, adding that he would address the lack of communication on the matter.
During a National Assembly audit held in Seoul's Jung-gu, Governor Shin responded to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon regarding the removal of the foreign exchange reserves ranking.
Lawmaker Kim criticized the sudden removal of the ranking, which had been publicly available for over 25 years, without any prior explanation or clarification. He questioned whether it was reasonable for the responsible department to independently decide to delete long-published data.
In response, Governor Shin explained that when the ranking was first published in 2001, the trauma of the foreign exchange crisis was still fresh, and it was included in press releases as a reliable statistic. He noted that the effectiveness of the ranking has gradually decreased over time.
He acknowledged that there was a need for better communication regarding how much the ranking contributes to assessing South Korea's foreign exchange stability, stating, "We will correct this and strengthen communication going forward."
When asked if the ranking was removed to conceal a decline in foreign exchange reserves, he countered that the ranking was actually omitted from press releases when the reserves increased.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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