On the 16th, the won-dollar exchange rate against the U.S. dollar finished the transaction at 1,473.6 won, up 3.9 won from the previous day. After pausing thanks to the verbal intervention by U.S. Treasury Minister Scott Bessent, the won-dollar exchange rate turned higher in just one day.
That day in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate began the transaction at 1,470 won, up 0.3 won from the previous day. The rate surged to as high as 1,476.3 won within 10 minutes of the market open, then narrowed its gains before the close. However, it did not proceed to a reversal into a decline. As a result, the rate, which had fallen into the 1,460-won range the previous day, recovered the 1,470-won level in one day.
It is seen as the result of bargain hunting flowing in after the won-dollar exchange rate dipped for the first time this year the previous day. On the 14th at night, Minister Bessent posted on X (formerly Twitter), a social networking service (SNS), saying, "(With Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance) we discussed that the recent weakness of the won does not align with Korea's solid economic fundamentals." The next day, the won-dollar exchange rate fell 7.8 won to 1,469.7 won.
On top of that, positive U.S. employment data fueled dollar strength (won weakness, a rise in the won-dollar exchange rate). Overnight, the U.S. Department of Labor said new jobless claims for last week (Jan. 4–10) were 198,000. That was below the market forecast of 215,000.
Min Kyung-won, a researcher at Woori Bank, said, "Overnight, a steady recovery in (U.S. employment) indicators and other factors triggered dollar strength," while noting, "From the 1,470-won level, a market consensus that micro (exchange rate) adjustment supplies by (the foreign exchange authorities) could flow in to preemptively block expectations for won weakness curbed overheating in dollar long (buying) sentiment."