South Korea is ready to tackle the potential fallout from a winding down of U.S. monetary stimulus and would embrace tightening measures if necessary, the nation's deputy prime minister told CNBC.
Hyun Oh-seok, minister of strategy and finance, said Asia's fourth-largest economy is "prepared to tighten macro-prudential measures should the country witness capital outflows and downward pressure on its financial account."
The interview took place earlier this month and was broadcast on Monday.
(Read more: We are sticking with South Korea, says Stanchart's Bindra)
Although South Korean markets have been hit by the "taper terror" that has swept across Asia over the past month, the benchmark Kospi stock index has held up relatively well. It has lost just 1 percent compared with a fall of 11 percent in Indonesia stocks, among the worst hit in the region.
Oh-seok remained optimistic about South Korea's long-term prospects.
"I think that Korea will remain resilient given its financial soundness, current account surplus and the relatively low levels of short-term debt," he said.
South Korea has avoided bearing the brunt of the selling in emerging markets thanks to solid economic data.
(Read more: Data could cast bigger shadow on emerging markets)