S. Korean president says to face financial crisis with U.S. investment demands

Alsharq Tribune-Ahmed Essam 

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has said his country would face a financial crisis rivalling the 1997 meltdown if the Asian country accepts the U.S. investment demands without safeguards, Reuters reported Monday.

"Without a currency swap, if we were to withdraw 350 billion U.S. dollars in the manner that the U.S. is demanding and to invest this all in cash in the U.S., South Korea would face a situation as it had in the 1997 financial crisis," he said in an interview with Reuters on Friday.

In a verbal agreement in July, South Korea promised to invest 350 billion dollars in the United States in exchange for the U.S. tariffs cut on South Korean goods.

South Korea's foreign currency reserves stood at 416.29 billion dollars at the end of August. Seoul has proposed a foreign exchange swap line with Washington.

As to the U.S. immigration raid in a South Korean factory earlier this month, Lee said South Koreans were naturally angered by the "harsh" treatment of the workers, warning that it could make domestic companies wary of investing in the United States.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the construction site of an electric vehicle battery plant run by a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution on Sept. 4, U.S. time.

Arrested were 475 individuals, including 316 South Korean workers who had been held at the Folkston detention center in Georgia.

"I do not believe this was intentional, and the U.S. has apologized for this incident, and we have agreed to seek reasonable measures in this regard and we are working on them," Lee was quoted as saying.