Won-dollar foreign exchange rate soars to record high 1,486

During trading hours, the won-dollar foreign exchange rate surged to 1,480. The exchange rate has continuously risen since the December 3 Martial Law incident, which peaked with the impeachment bill passed by the National Assembly against Acting President Han Duck-soo. For the daytime closing price (as of 15:30), the exchange rate climbed more than 10 won in just two days. Rising political uncertainty drove the foreign exchange market to its worst-ever volatility since 2009, immediately after the global financial crisis.

The daytime trading in the Seoul FX market closed at 1,467.5 won on Friday, a 2.7 won increase from the previous day. The increase was a lot smaller in the afternoon. However, the exchange rate peaked at 1,486.7 won during the daytime trading. It is the first time since March 16, 2009, when the exchange rate reached the range of 1,480 won (1,488.0 won) during the market running hours. The daytime closing price jumped by 11.1 won since Thursday when the opposition party decided to pass the impeachment bill against Acting President Han.

Politicians still were arguing over whom to blame even when the rate had hit its record high in 15 years. The opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung insisted in a top-level meeting that the exchange rate started skyrocketing the moment Han announced his unnecessary statement (the day before) and that the already-struggling livelihood economy of ordinary citizens are plummeting due to the groups still siding with the President who committed treason and rejecting impeachment. Kwon Seong-dong, the acting leader and floor leader for the ruling People Power Party, responded that the impeachment efforts have completely undermined confidence by demonstrating that Korea's social system is not functioning well and stabilizing due to the impeachment efforts against the acting president.


신아형 기자 abro@donga.com