South Korea said it was reviewing “contingency plans” to tackle foreign exchange volatility, with the Korean won hovering at a 13-year low against the US dollar as currencies across Asia come under pressure from an increasingly hawkish Federal Reserve.
Finance minister Choo Kyung-ho stepped up verbal intervention on Thursday to try to stem an acute sell-off in the Korean currency, saying authorities would take necessary measures if there was excessive volatility.
“The exchange rate is rising too fast and people are concerned about this. So we are closely monitoring the market situation,” he told a session of parliament. “We are staying on alert and reviewing various contingency plans through inter-ministry discussions.”