South Korea and Japan have decided to expand their foreign exchange (FX) swap arrangements more than five times to $70 billion, Reuters reports. The two countries will open a new dollar-local currency swap deal worth $30 billion and extend an increasing bilateral yen-won arrangement to $30 billion from $3 billion.

The pre-emptive measure gives South Korea more control in defending the vulnerable won. The agreement will expand their total swap arrangements to $70 billion from $13 billion, including a $10 billion swap arrangement under a $120 billion emergency financing plan established among 13 East Asian countries.

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