The South Korean won weakened to around 1,507 per dollar, pulling back from a more than one-month high near 1,498, as renewed US-Iran military strikes and rising oil prices unsettled markets. The two countries exchanged fresh attacks over the weekend, and Tehran claimed to have closed the Strait of Hormuz, stoking concerns about potential disruptions to global oil supplies and heightening fears of higher energy costs.
The escalation further eroded global risk appetite, driving investors toward safe-haven assets and bolstering demand for the US dollar as crude prices advanced. Even so, expectations that SK Hynix will convert a significant share of the proceeds from its $26.5 billion Nasdaq listing into won for domestic investment helped alleviate some downward pressure on the currency by increasing dollar supply in the local foreign-exchange market.
Market participants also turned their attention to this week’s Bank of Korea policy meeting for clearer signals on the interest-rate outlook and policymakers’ views on inflation, economic growth, and overall financial conditions.
