Anchor: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided Monday to add the Chinese yuan to its reserve-currency basket, considering China's growing economic clout around the world. Some experts believe China's influence could now reach the South Korean financial market.
Our Kim In-kyung looks at how the inclusion will affect the South Korean economy.
 
Report: The Chinese yuan joins the dollar, euro, pound and yen as the fifth currency in the International Monetary Fund's special drawing right (SDR) basket.

[Sound bite: IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde]
"The IMF's executive board decided that the renminbi qualified for the SDR basket and existing criteria." 

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde announced on Monday that the economic authority will add the Chinese yuan to its reserve-currency basket from October of next year.
 
The IMF chief called the decision "an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system." 
 
The Chinese currency will have a ten-point-92 percent weighting in the SDR basket. It will be the third highest weighting following the dollar and the euro.
 
Professor Yang Jun-sok of the Catholic University of Korea said the change could bring a beneficial effect to South Korea a fourth of whose outbound shipment goes to China.
 
[Sound bite: Professor Yang Jun-sok - Catholic University of Korea (English)]
"Directly, it won't affect Korea very much. Indirectly, it might have a beneficial effect because the Korean economy depends so much on the yuan and this gives more legitimacy to having the Chinese yuan as a reserve currency. Because Korea is one of the few financial centers right now which has a yuan market, that allows Korea to have more direct dealings with the yuan and perhaps gain more stability than perhaps if we just stick with the U.S. dollar."
 
Others say if South Korea's dependence on the yuan increases, currency fluctuations in China may jolt Seoul's financial market. 
 
Lee Chi-hun, a researcher at the Korea Center for International Finance, said the yuan's inclusion in the SDR basket could expand the correlation between South Korea and China from the real economy to financial markets. 
 
The South Korean government plans to maintain existing measures to respond to the yuan's rise as an elite currency. The measures include having a direct won-yuan exchange market in Seoul and plans to issue yuan-denominated foreign exchange stabilization bonds in China.
 
A government official said financial authorities will continue to pursue measures implemented in preparation for changes in the yuan's status. The official said as the yuan could have a bigger impact on South Korea's economy, the government will closely monitor Beijing's policies and market movements.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.