The Korean won is rapidly depreciating against the U.S. dollar... on expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise its interest rate soon.<br />But these currency conditions are not expected to have a profound impact on Korean exports.<br />Our Kim Ji-yeon tells us why. <br />The Korean won has been depreciating against the U.S. dollar this month,... mainly due to the strengthening of the U.S. currency.<br />In the month of March,... the won weakened about two-and-a-half percent against the greenback... to close at one-thousand-126 won on Thursday.<br />The Seoul-based Daishin Economic Research Institute expects the won-dollar exchange rate to decline even further to one-thousand-150 won within the next two months.<br />This,... on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise its rate in the coming months -- and possibly sooner.<br /><br /><br />"The overlying projection is that the Fed will raise its interest rate in April. We even think there's a possibility that it may raise the rate in its upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week... due to improved unemployment figures in February."<br /><br />Since the depreciation of the Korean currency stems mainly from the strengthening of the U.S. dollar, rather than strong economic fundamentals,... local analysts say it won't have a profound impact on boosting the competitiveness of Korean exports.<br />Busan-based B-S Financial Group says that's because the currencies of other Asian countries such as the Japanese yen are also depreciating against the dollar.<br /><br /><br />"The types of goods exported by Korea and Japan, including steel and automobiles, and their competitiveness comes from the valuation of their local currencies. The already much-depreciated yen is gaining the upper hand over the Korean won, due to a series of quantitative easing measures from Tokyo since late 2012."<br /><br />In the month of March alone, the Japanese yen weakened about two percent against the greenback.<br />The B-S Financial Group researcher predicts the yen will reach the 130 yen level agains
