Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol answers questions from committee members at a plenary session of the Special Committee for the Processing of the Special Act on Investment in the US, held at the National Assembly on the 4th. [Yonhap News]

Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol stated that the US rejected the currency swap between Korea and the US because Korea possesses foreign exchange assets worth approximately 1 trillion dollars.

During his attendance at the plenary session of the Special Committee for Investment in the US at the National Assembly on the 4th, Deputy Prime Minister Koo responded with "That is correct" when asked by National Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-hoon, "May I understand this as our government being unable to do it, rather than not wanting to?"

He cited the reason as, "We have mentioned it to the US several times, but they responded that Korea does not have insufficient foreign exchange reserves."

Specifically, he explained, "From the US perspective, they see that the Korean government has over 400 billion dollars, the National Pension Service has about 500 billion dollars, and the citizens also have over 100 billion dollars, thus they believe foreign exchange is not insufficient."

In addition, Deputy Prime Minister Koo made a nervous clarification regarding the won-dollar exchange rate exceeding 1,500 won, stating, "We are monitoring and checking every day with a sense of urgency."

Korea-US-Japan Economic Department