Cheong Wa Dae links Korea-U.S. currency swap to close alliance

By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- Presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday hailed the South Korea-U.S. currency swap deal as "fruit" of a closer alliance between the two countries.

"Without the close alliance between South Korea and the U.S., such a bilateral
currency swap deal hardly could have been expected," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Lee
Dong-kwan said in a media briefing.
"The deal has once again demonstrated the importance of summit diplomacy," said
the spokesman, referring to President Lee Myung-bak's rounds of summit and
telephone talks with U.S. President George W. Bush.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would sign a currency swap
arrangement of up to US$30 billion each with four emerging markets -- South
Korea, Mexico, Brazil and Singapore -- to help ease their U.S. dollar funding
amid the global financial crisis.
Officials in Seoul forecast that the currency swap deal with the U.S. would ease
the dollar shortage of local lenders and help the country stabilize its financial
market.
"Mexico, Brazil and Singapore, which signed the currency swap deal with
Washington along with South Korea, are all close strategic allies of the U.S.,"
said spokesman Lee.
The spokesman called the currency swap deal the "fourth gift" from the
Seoul-Washington alliance, following the revision of the bilateral beef trade
deal, Washington's pro-Korean stance on Dokdo claimed by Japan in a territorial
provocation, and Bush's invitation of President Lee to the Group of 20 financial
summit.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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