A dealing room at Hana Bank in central Seoul is seen in this Dec. 3 photo. Yonhap
The South Korean currency fell sharply against the U.S. dollar Wednesday after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law.
The Korean won had slid to as low as 1,441 won per dollar during the nighttime offshore trading after Yoon declared martial law in a previously unannounced late-night address Tuesday, accusing the opposition side of controlling the parliament and paralyzing the government by conducting "anti-state activities."
It was the lowest level since Oct. 25, 2022, when the local currency sank to 1,444.2 won during intratrading.
In onshore trading, the local currency was quoted at 1,402.9 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 1.6 won from the previous session.
Financial authorities are reviewing an option of closing the stock markets Wednesday amid chances of high market volatility, officials said.
"It is yet to be decided if the stock markets will be opened Wednesday," a Korea Exchange official said.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index and tech-heavy KOSDAQ markets are scheduled to open at 9 a.m. and close at 3:30 p.m.
An emergency meeting on the economy is under way, presided over by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, and attended by Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong, and the chiefs of the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service.
The cryptocurrency market was also affected by the martial law declaration.
Bitcoin began to drop markedly after the declaration, and it had sunk 2.65 percent from a day earlier as of 11:15 p.m. Wednesday.
Some cryptocurrency exchanges have also reported disruption in their services due to a surge in demand, officials said. (Yonhap)
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