SEOUL, South Korean and Japanese finance ministers have voiced serious concerns over the sharp weakening of their currencies against the U.S. dollar and said they can take appropriate steps to curb market volatility amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, Seoul’s finance ministry said Wednesday.
The verbal intervention by South Korea’s Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Japan’s Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki was made during their meeting in Washington on Tuesday (local time), according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Volatility in the foreign exchange market has grown recently after Iran launched a drone and missile attack against Israel over the weekend in response to a suspected Israeli attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria.
Concerns about a wider conflict in the Middle East have grown further, though the international community has called on Israel to show restraint.
On Tuesday, the Korean won had dropped to the closely watched level of 1,400 won per dollar during intraday trading for the f
irst time since 2022 before ending at a fresh low for 2024 of 1,394.50 won.
Source: Yonhap News Agency