Dollar Falls, Breaking 1,050 Mark: One Dollar Equivalent to 1,046 Won

The U.S. dollar fell below the 1,050 won mark against the Korean won for the first time in seven years.

On the Seoul foreign exchange market, the U.S. dollar declined by 10.8 won from the day before to close at 1,046.4 won on Friday. This is the lowest mark since November 19, 1997 when the U.S. dollar recorded 1,035.5 won.

Against the won, the dollar fell by 58 won since breaking the 1,100 won mark on November 15.

Beginning a descent against the won, the dollar dropped past the 1,050 mark in the afternoon and further pushed down to 1,043.30 won.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index on Friday fell 14.37 points to 858.12 on worries that exporters’ performances will suffer due to a weakening dollar.

Kang-Woon Lee Jin-Hup Song kwoon90@donga.com jinhup@donga.com