Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki says it will not be easy for South Korea to be dropped from a list of countries that the U.S. monitors for suspicions of currency manipulation.

During his visit to the International Monetary Fund in Washington on Friday, Hong told reporters that he had discussed the matter with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin a day earlier. 

Hong added that he was given the impression that Seoul may not be removed from Washington's list, which is expected to be released in the coming days.

The U.S. Treasury in May included South Korea on its monitoring list along with China, Japan, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. 

Hong said Mnuchin also expressed interest in South Korea's request to be exempted from U.S. auto tariffs and noted he would discuss the issue with the Commerce Department. 

As for Seoul's trade dispute with Tokyo, Hong explained his government's stance that Japan should withdraw its export restrictions against Korea as they are not compatible with the World Trade Organization's regulations.