Yen-to-Won Rate Temporarily Broke 100 Yen to 1000 Won

Yen-to-won rate temporarily broke 100 yen to 1000 won at the foreign exchange market during yesterday. It was the lowest exchange rate for last 40 months.

Won-to-yen rate recorded 997.7 won against 100 yen at 3:00 p.m. yesterday. It was the first time that won-to-yen rate fell below 1000 won since August 1998.

Won-to-dollar rate plunged 13 won over last Friday to 1310.0 won yesterday (won gain value). However, yen-to-dollar rate fell 0.15 yen over the weekend to 131.3 yen. Thus, won-to-yen rate sharply dropped.

While the exporting companies sold their dollars, there were not many demands for dollar purchasing. Therefore, won-to-dollar rate plunged. Yoo Hyun-Jung, a foreign exchange dealer of Koram Bank, said, "The exporting companies have limited dollar selling because of the rise of yen-to-dollar rate and won-to-dollar rate. But, since yen-to-dollar rate has fell from last Friday, the exporting companies began to sell their dollars."

Chan-Sun Hong hcs@donga.com