[Start Economy] Foreign Exchange Reserves Increase Despite Surging Exchange Rate...The price of the shopping cart is "emergency."

■ Host: Anchor Lee Jung-seop, Anchor Cho Ye-jin
■ Starring: Kim Ji-woon, Director of Samsung Active Asset Coact ETF

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News START] when quoting.

[Anchor]
We deliver the latest economic news quickly and kindly. Start Economy, today is with Kim Ji-woon, head of Samsung Active Asset Coact ETF. Please come in. The won-dollar exchange rate soared last month, but our foreign exchange reserves did not decrease but increased. Is there a reason for that?

[Kim Jiwoon]
The current foreign exchange reserves are more than 10 times higher than that of the IMF. In fact, exports are very strong right now. So exports of semiconductors, automobiles, ships, bio, and health are good, so the current account surplus is continuing. Although it is a little negative in the capital balance, I believe that the current account surplus has had a positive effect. And usually at the end of the quarter or the end of the year, idle dollars were deposited in deposit institutions, which had some effect of being held as foreign exchange reserves.

[Anchor]
However, as this high exchange rate continues, prices are on the rise. It's not even kimchi-making season, but cabbage prices and radish prices are fluctuating, and fruit prices seem to have risen a lot. What do you see as the background?

[Kim Jiwoon]
I heard that tangerine prices have risen a lot, and the crops were very bad in Jeju Island. Summer was so hot and October was raining a lot, so there are many tangerines that are not colored. In this way, as climate change continues, agricultural production is not smooth, and agricultural prices are bound to rise. In addition, labor costs have risen so much and the lack of manpower seems to have a structural impact.

[Anchor]
That's why it's hard to buy a lot of tangerines these days. They're tangerines in winter. That's what I heard. Looking at the increase in consumer prices, it seems that the increase has also increased slightly, even though it fell a lot to 1.3 in October. I think the burden will continue in the future if the indicators come out like this at a time when the price burden continues.

[Kim Jiwoon]
It was about 1.9% in December, but it's probably seasonal and oil prices are rebounding now. We weren't interested in all of them, but with oil prices rebounding, we have to buy all of them in dollars. Because the increase in oil prices multiplied by the increase in exchange rates, the price burden is basically very high. Also, the price of various raw materials has increased a lot. The price of cacao, coffee, and such agricultural products have all gone up, but we're all importing and eating, and the same goes for juice. I think that will continue to be a burden on prices.

[Anchor]
As the price of high prices continues, the government has also come up with measures. I said I will come up with a price management plan for Lunar New Year's holy water this week and I will announce it, what will it contain?

[Kim Jiwoon]
We will supply many foods such as apples, pears, ritual goods, and Korean beef. There are plans like this. So about 44,000 tons of apples and pears. I don't have a clue about the amount, but the government seems to be trying to induce price stabilization by expanding supply.

[Anchor]
Whenever prices rise, the government comes up with a lot of measures. The government also offers discount coupons. Will such measures be felt from the perspective of the common people?

[Kim Jiwoon]
There may be some influences. In the end, if you release money again, it will have a slight temporary effect because it affects inflation.

[Anchor]
In the end, I think we have no choice but to control it through supply and demand. We'll see how the measures for supply and demand come out. Let's look at the next topic. It's a world-class IT home appliance electronics technology fair right now. CES is just around the corner. It opens in the United States tomorrow, so is there anything to watch out for this time?

[Kim Ji-woon]
I thought it would be confirmed that almost everything is AI once again, we knew it, but I think it will be confirmed that AI is applied to all electronic products once again. I think the humanoid robot will come closer. So, it is expected that humanoids will be mass-produced as early as the end of this year or from 2026. I think that's what you can see.

[Anchor]
I think a lot of our companies and owners of companies are also attending. Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin and Hanwha Galleria Vice President Kim Dong-sun will not attend, but many other young owners in the distribution and food industries attend CES.

[Kim Jiwoon]
I heard that Pulmuone introduces robot cooking and smart unmanned machines. In collaboration with a company called Yoka Express, Pulmuone is well known as our K-food only for ramen. Pulmuone also has a factory in the United States and exports a lot. Tofu is also selling well and there is a lot of demand for Asian noodle. So, if you can connect K-food with a robot and show it well, it would be very positive.

[Anchor]
In the end, everyone is interested in food and distribution because of AI and related to robots. And for today's schedule, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to give a keynote speech. This person's mouth is attracting a lot of attention, right?

[Kim Jiwoon]
I'm so excited, too. It's from 6:30 p.m. local time in the United States. I think it will be 11:30 in Korean time. So semiconductor stocks have been on the rise recently, not only in Korea but also in the United States. I think this kind of expectation will be reflected. I heard that Jensen Hwang is giving a keynote speech again for the first time in six years. So I think we'll come up with a new topic this time. It is already obvious that it was the most unique position in AI, but there were also expectations that it would appear with such robots, such as bringing an AI PC or an AI for robots. So I'm looking forward to seeing the next expansion in AI.

[Anchor]
Then our companies will be affected according to the keynote speech, right?

[Kim Jiwoon]
Since it's 11:30 p.m., I think I'll have to watch it without having lunch. I think each word will have a great influence. But last year, the demand for IT was very bad. So, in the second half of last year, we originally hoped for a rebound in semiconductors, but it was in a bad situation due to sluggish demand. However, if you can lead a product that can lead to new demand, whether it is an AI PC or a robot, then it is likely that there will be a rebound as expectations for a recovery in demand rise.

[Anchor]
In the end, wouldn't Jensen Hwang talk about what kind of things he's talking about and mentioning our company, or wouldn't he be looking forward to things like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Hyundai Motor?

[Kim Jiwoon]
Since Hynix usually supplies HBM a lot, I mentioned SK Hynix a lot. And Samsung is also delivering some and looking forward to additional deliveries, but in fact, it is much more advantageous for Nvidia to have more HBM providers. That way, you can receive and expand your supply smoothly. So I think I can talk about that a little bit. A baby does.

[Anchor]
The stock market is also showing a lot of improvement, maybe because of the opening of CES in New York.

[Kim Jiwoon]
Yesterday, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rebounded by about 2.4%. However, Nvidia also rose a lot to an all-time high, but Micron also rose 10%. And semiconductor equipment stocks such as ASML rose 7%, and yesterday, the U.S. designated Changsin Semiconductor as a management target. Changsin Semiconductor was also designated by Tencent and CATL, but Changsin Semiconductor is CSMT in English. However, I think this part will be very important to Korean companies. Changsin Memory has been chasing Korean semiconductors a lot with the mass production of DDR4. If the U.S. sanctions them, wouldn't Korean semiconductor companies be able to buy a little more time? So I think that could be a plus for Korean companies in addition to the rebound in tech.

[Anchor]
You've even predicted the New York Stock Exchange, and I'll ask you the last question. You know the U.S. stock market's corporate disclosure, which has been stagnant in high interest rates for the past three years. There is also a prospect that this corporate disclosure will revive thanks to the booming stock market this year, what does this mean?

[Kim Jiwoon]
Since the United States is in such a leading position in AI, there are many promising companies in AI in startups. I think we can do this again. In addition, interest rates have fallen a little, so we expect such IPOs to be more pronounced in the United States.

[Anchor]
However, Korea is also very popular when it comes to public offering, but in the case of the US stock market, it is different from Korea, so I think people who invest a lot in this area need to be careful.

[Kim Jiwoon]
It's actually very hard to do it in Korea. It seems like a desirable way to wait for an adjustment tax after the stock price has already risen.

[Anchor]
I see. So far, we have talked about the economy with Kim Ji-woon, head of Samsung Active Asset Coact ETF. Thank you.