$1=1,023 Won

The won value reached its peak in 87 months against the dollar in the Seoul Foreign Exchange Market on Monday, recording 1023.3 won, 0.8 won higher from last Friday. This is the highest level since Nov. 18 1997, when Korean won reached 1012.8 against the U.S. currency. The won started weak against dollar on the market, but the dollar soon lost momentum and fell to 1022.2 won near the end of Monday session.

The main reason behind the recent trend of the weak dollar is attributable to the bullish Korean stock market, which entices foreigners to sell dollars in order to buy Korean stocks.

Kyung-Joon Chung news91@donga.com