South Korea’s Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol put currency markets on notice on June 4, declaring the government will take “immediate and necessary actions” if the won’s decline triggers excessive market volatility. The won has been creeping toward 1,530 per US dollar, a level it hasn’t touched since March 2009.
The won’s slide has been building for months. Back in May 2026, the currency breached the psychologically significant 1,500 per USD mark, prompting authorities to roll out 24-hour monitoring measures. Rising bond yields and external market pressures have continued pushing the won lower.
In April 2026, US and South Korean officials jointly acknowledged that excessive won volatility is undesirable.
The crypto connection
South Korea has long been one of the world’s most active crypto trading markets. The so-called “kimchi premium,” where Korean exchanges historically trade Bitcoin and other tokens at higher prices than global peers, has been a defining feature of the country’s crypto landscape for years.
