• Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong sought to keep the door open to resuming policy tightening to counter inflation after the board kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday for the first time in a year.
• Rhee told reporters that five of the six board members he polled were open to borrowing costs reaching a peak of 3.75% after holding the seven-day repurchase rate at 3.5%. That was an increase from three board members in January. The board comprises seven members including the governor.