management, business support and cash processing. i would also like to thank all our staff at regional branches for strengthening their role as ambassadors of the bank of korea. i hope that you can expand your horizons by communicating with people in your regional communities, while taking pride in the fact that you are making actual contributions to developing those same communities. the bank of korea stands at a new turning point this year. after several years of construction, the completion of our new headquarters is just around the corner. in several months, we will return to where we originally undertook our duties since 1950. i would like to express my genuine gratitude to those involved in the construction for all their hard work. with the advent of the post - covid era, i hope that this new year will be a year for the bank of korea to leap forward in a new environment. as we greet this new year, i want to wish you and your family all the very best of health and good fortune. thank you. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches

chang yong rhee : new year speech new year's address by mr chang yong rhee, governor of the bank of korea, at the bank of korea, seoul, 2 january 2023. * * * my dear colleagues at the bank of korea, today we start our first day of work in 2023. let me begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your best efforts at fulfilling your duties in your respective roles throughout the past year. i also thank your families for supporting your hard work here. i wish you and your family the very best of health and success in your endeavors in the coming year of the rabbit. last year was a time of significant change around the globe. the russian invasion of ukraine and heightened tensions between the u. s. and china have accelerated the bloc formation of the global political and economic structure. the low inflation environment since the global financial crisis has ended, and has been followed by high global inflation. with the covid - 19 pandemic stretching for over two years, fatigue among economic agents has built up and polarization has deepened across various areas. amid these changes, the korean economy experienced substantial difficulties caused by the elevated inflation and the strains in the financial and fx markets. as international commodity prices soared after the outbreak of the war in ukraine in late february, prices rose steeply in korea, too. as a result, consumer price inflation hit 6. 3 % in july, the highest rate seen since the asian financial crisis. in september and october, the strong dollar led to a sharp depreciation of the korean won, and fx market volatility intensified. from october, credit risk aversion, triggered by the default of a legoland developer, spread, exacerbating liquidity conditions in the short - term money market. against this backdrop, the bank of korea conducted monetary policy with top priority on price stability, while paying attention to financial stability and the support of vulnerable sectors. with the paces of the rate hikes in major economies, including the u. s., accelerating, we also hiked the base rate to 3. 25 %. it is true that rate hikes increased difficulties among the people, but they were an unavoidable choice to prevent high inflation from becoming entrenched and the economy as a whole from suffering a greater loss in the long - term. we also responded actively to unrest in the financial and fx markets with micro - level market stabilization measures. owing mainly to these