June 17, 2010 – Stock markets around the world have found solace in the leaked, then officially released, China Export data; showing a 48.5% increase in exports in May from comparable data in 2009. Conveniently timed with the past week’s global equity rally that followed the China Export numbers, were several announcements from South Korean financial leaders. First, Korea announced new measures to tighten restrictions on Currency Futures trading, and then proposed an indefinite re-opening of the currency swap lines between the Bank of Korea and The U.S. Fed, which were closed in February 2010…

The Washington D.C. summit in 2008 crowned the Group of Twenty Nations (G20) as the official global economic summit of industrialized countries. Two years in, Korea is proud to have been chosen to Chair the 2010 G20 summit, which was kicked off in Busan last week for a meeting of the group’s finance ministers. Hosting the G20 certainly represents a milestone on Korea’s global economic ascent; however, the communiqué out of Busan begs a dissimilar fate for the unification of the group…