Seoul to take firm action to cushion global uncertainties: finance minister

South Korea's finance minister said Monday the government will take firm action to cushion any fallout from wide-spreading economic uncertainties stemming from Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election.

"It's difficult to predict how the global market will move in the future as there is a number of interpretations of economic policies of the incoming Trump government," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a luncheon meeting in Seoul. "The government will take an aggressive stance until the uncertainties ease to some extent."

South Korea's financial and foreign exchange authorities have run a supervisory team to monitor the financial market around-the-clock, while the trade ministry-led working-level group was launched to deal with expected trade pressures from the new U.S. government.

Uncertainties in the world market have run high due to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's tough statements during his campaign. He has said that his government will raise trade barriers, with trade protectionism increasingly gaining ground in the world economy.

Yoo, South Korea's top economic policymaker, said Asia's fourth-largest economy is healthy enough to tide over the headwinds and uncertainties, citing the country's favorable foreign exposure, such as the current solid account surplus.

South Korea was the world's seventh-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves as of end-October, with a current account surplus for 55 straight months as of September.

"The global market will be affected by how U.S. President-elect Trump's campaign pledges will be transformed into real economic policies," said Yoo. "But the South Korean economy is different from other emerging countries given its steady national debt structure and the current account surplus."

(YONHAP)