Exchange Rate Breaks 1,500 won / 1 dollar !
Who wins in the exchange rate battle currently pommeling the South Korean won? Dollars coming into Korea. It’s a GREAT time for US travelers. Visit Korea if you’re a tourist and go shopping because everything will be literally on a massive sale. If you’re a saver, then buy some Korean won to sit on until the exchange rate shifts back.
If you’re in Korea, may heaven be with you if you have send money over to the states. One year ago, the exchange rate was approximately 1,000 won / dollar. So, if you saw a pair of shoes for 100,000 won, it would cost approximately 100 dollars. Today, if you see the pair of same shoes, they would cost you 66 dollars. I’m not kidding… the entire country is 33% off!
For Koreans who have to pay tuition in dollars or anyone who wishes to send money over to the states, their buying power has been cut in half. The horror! On this side we’re screwed. But for those on the other side of the pond who want to make good use of their money, the smartest thing to do is send money to Korea where you get an immediate 50% return because of the exchange rate and put it into a one-year savings account which currently gets about 7% in interest (much higher than US CD rates).
Check out the latest exchange rates in the Asia Pacific Region on Bloomberg here. It will only give you the basic rate though so if you can read Korean, type in ‘환율’ into Naver.com because there you can see the bank rates for cash and electronic transfers - including the differing rates when buying vs. selling.
This is of course based on the assumption that banks won’t fail and that the won will one day return to its 1,000 won / dollar level as it did after the last Asian Financial Crisis ten years ago. If not, then let’s meditate on this if any medication is not nearby at hand.
Looking at the sky makes material problems seem so immaterial.
Tags: Currency, Exchange Rate, Korea, Korean Won, Meditation, Seoul, Seoulite