Exchange Rate Skyrocketing, One Dollar Worth 1191 Won

The won-dollar exchange rate skyrocketed on November 20, hitting a record-high in approximately four months and twenty days. (The value of won decreased.)

The Seoul foreign exchange market closed this day with the won-dollar rate at 1191.5 won, 14.7 won higher than the previous day. This is the highest rate since the 1193.0 won on June 30.

Various incidents affected this jump, including the prosecution’s expansion of investigation on conglomerates, the instability of the financial market due to the shaky credit card companies, the depreciation of the value of Japanese yen, and the statement by Bank of Korea Governor Park Seung saying, “The direction of the exchange rate policy will be set to support exports.”

Meanwhile, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, which had dropped nearly 30 points on November 19, closed at 769.45, only 2.25 points lower than the day before, showing signs of stabilizing due to the recovery trends of foreign stock markets on November 20.

The yield on the benchmark three-year treasury bonds dropped 0.09 percentage points from the previous day, to close at 4.78 percent.

Joong-Hyun Park Jung-Eun Lee sanjuck@donga.com lightee@donga.com