By Lee Kyoung Mi

The finance chiefs of Korea, the U.S. and Japan on April 17 in Washington announced their intent to cooperate for the sake of the three countries and the global economy, saying in a joint statement that they acknowledge "serious concerns of Japan and the Republic of Korea about the recent sharp depreciation of the Japanese yen and the Korean won."

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang Mok, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi said this in their joint press statement after the first trilateral meeting of finance ministers from Korea, the U.S. and Japan at the Department of the Treasury in Washington.

This meeting was a follow-up to an agreement reached at a summit of the three countries held in August last year at Camp David, a presidential retreat in Maryland. Korea has conducted economic cooperation at the bilateral level with its two allies.

The three ministers shared their concerns about the recent sharp depreciation of the Korean and Japanese currencies against the U.S. dollar.

"We will also continue to consult closely on foreign exchange market developments in line with our existing G20 commitments," they said. "We will continue to cooperate to promote sustainable economic growth, financial stability, as well as orderly and well-functioning financial markets."

The won and yen have continuously weakened against the greenback due to the expected delayed cuts in U.S. interest rates and risk aversion stemming from the instability in the Middle East.

"Together, we affirm our commitment to utilize and coordinate our respective sanctions tools to impose costs on Russia for its war against Ukraine and target the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK's) weapons program," the statement added.

"We strongly condemn the DPRK's exports to Russia, as well as Russia's procurement of the DPRK's ballistic missiles, in direct violation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, and call upon them to immediately cease such activities."

"Through close dialogue and solidarity, the three countries must respond to disruptions to supply chains caused by factors threatening stability in the trade and economic order," Minister Choi said in general comments made ahead of the meeting. "We must also cooperate and aggressively respond to financial instability that could arise due to economic uncertainty and the reform of multilateral development banks."

Since April 8, the won's depreciation against the U.S. dollar has shown signs of easing after the three countries jointly acted to tackle growing volatility of the exchange rate.

km137426@korea.kr