speech commemorating the bank ’ s 72nd anniversary 10 june 2022 rhee, chang yong governor bank of korea dear fellow members of the bank of korea, today marks the 72nd anniversary of the bank of korea ’ s establishment. first of all, i wish to express my sincere gratitude to our predecessors who devoted themselves to the development of the bank of korea and have supported and encouraged the bank. i would also like to thank staff from all parts of the organization, from policy and management to field operations, for their hard work in their respective areas despite the difficult circumstances caused by covid - 19. let me also express my sincere appreciation to the families who have supported our staff so that they can faithfully fulfill their duties. looking back historically, the bank of korea has always since its foundation made every effort as a central bank, while responding to turbulent economic conditions. the bank of korea has faithfully carried out the role and functions that were required by the times. in the 1960s and 70s, our bank provided funds for achieving high - speed growth, and in the 80s and 90s, our bank devoted its attention to establishing a foundation for price stability. after the 2000s, it promoted financial stability and boosted economic vitality. and during the recent covid - 19 pandemic, our bank took unprecedented measures to mitigate the shock and pursued the preemptive normalization of monetary policy thereafter. i think that these efforts have provided one of the cornerstones for our economic development and stability. however, the bank of korea is currently facing another challenge. although the korean economy has been recovering thanks to the easing of pandemic restrictions and resumption of economic activities, external uncertainties surrounding the global economy are higher than ever. as global inflationary pressures are projected to remain high for a considerable time due to the prolonged war in ukraine, the original role of the central bank as an inflation fighter has made a resurgence. however, on the other hand, some have raised concerns that the global economy might go into a recession amid a slowdown of the chinese economy and accelerated interest rate hikes by major central banks. accordingly, the trade - off between inflation and growth is increasing, which is likely to put more pressure on the conduct of monetary policy. 1 / 6 under such policy conditions, our policy decisions and credibility could face a crucial test. it is true that we started monetary policy normalization earlier than other central banks last year, when consumer price inflation was recording around 2 to 3 percent. however

in response to covid - 19 have thus far contained the disturbance in the financial and capital markets and produced some positive effects on financing, mainly of firms. chart 13 actions taken by the bank to address covid - 19 ( 1 ) supporting corporate financing special program to support financing in response to covid - 19 • purchases of cp and corporate bonds : maximum amount outstanding of about 20 tril. yen ( previous amount outstanding of about 5 tril. yen ) • special funds - supplying operations to facilitate financing in response to covid - 19 ( 2 ) stabilizing financial markets ample and flexible provision of yen and foreign currency funds • further active purchases of jgbs and t - bills • enhancement of the u. s. dollar funds - supplying operations ( 3 ) actively purchasing etfs and j - reits etfs : annual pace of about 6 tril. yen annual pace with the upper limit of about 12 tril. yen for the time being j - reits : annual pace of about 90 bil. yen annual pace with the upper limit of about 180 bil. yen for the time being however, with the moderate pace of economic improvement and significant downside risks, financing, mainly of firms, is likely to remain under stress for the time being. to address this situation, the bank decided at the december 2020 monetary policy meeting ( mpm ) to extend the duration of the special program by six months until the end of september 2021, thereby continuing to support financing, mainly of firms. the bank will continue to closely monitor the impact of covid - 19 and not hesitate to take additional easing measures - - including further extension of the special program - - if necessary. moreover, as a forward - looking approach, the bank has decided to conduct an assessment for further effective and sustainable monetary easing, with a view to supporting the economy and thereby achieving the price stability target of 2 percent. based on the premise that the bank will maintain the current framework of qqe with yield curve control, it will assess various measures and make public its findings, likely at the march 2021 mpm. b. my view on the conduct of monetary policy i voted for the bank to take the aforementioned actions in response to covid - 19, but i have continued to dissent from the majority decision on the following two measures : yield curve control and the bank's commitment regarding the future conduct of monetary policy. this was based on my view that it is necessary not only to support financing and provide liquid