I love it when it goes down.  It’s been up for way too long.  Check out this graph of US Dollars to Korean Won.

Especially since I’ll be coming back to the US in December. I’ve already paid for my plane ticket, but bringing cash is always a hit-or-miss when it comes to gaining or losing purchasing power.  Last May I lost about $250 just walking out of the bank.  I hope the exchange rate stays down long enough to   keep from getting a haircut again.

Of course, there’s more than just market pressures at work on this. The major Korean exporters, like Hyundai cars or Samsung Electronics are all government supported industries – jaebols – a strictly Korean form of business. When the won is down against the dollar, they lose money when they sell overseas. When its high, like it has been this year, they roll in the profits.  Hyundai says that for every 10 won downward, they lose 1% profit.  That’s a lot of dough for a major car manufacturer.  The Korean government won’t let it stay down too long or go too far. Even though a lower won is good for domestic consumption its bad for the major players.

I hope they let it ride at least until Christmas when I’ll want to exchange some.