A South Korean government official in charge of foreign exchange markets cautioned traders against pushing the won too low, highlighting the government's concerns about any excessive fall in a thinned out currency market ahead of the New Year.
"While we don't target any specific levels of foreign exchange rate, our assessment is that market should be cautioned about the current levels," a foreign exchange official at the Finance Ministry told Reuters over the phone. His comments came after Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said earlier in the morning that the won's depreciation against the dollar was not too fast.
"The won's fall is not that sharp right now," the minister said at a briefing in Seoul. Worried that this may cause a misunderstanding that the government is comfortable with the current weakness in the currency, the unnamed official said the minister's earlier comments were meant to point out that such declines are in line with other emerging currencies. The won has lost close to 3 percent against the greenback so far in 2016.