Won Hits 13-Month High Amid Dollar Selling and US Debt Concerns

The South Korean won reached its highest level in over 13 months against the US dollar on August 24, due to continued selling of greenbacks by exporters.

The won was quoted at 1,382.4 per dollar at 3:30 p.m., marking a new high since July 30, 2025, and up 4.1 from the previous day's close.

This advance came as the US Treasury Department doubled its planned purchase of long-term bonds, with the US state debt exceeding $40 trillion for the first time.

Moon Jeong-hee, an economist at KB Kookmin Bank, noted that exporters had sold more dollars as the won surpassed 1,400 per dollar last week.