With the dollar surging amid the fallout from armed clashes between the United States and Israel and Iran, the won-dollar exchange rate briefly topped 1,500 won intraday.

As the Middle East crisis drives a surge in the won–dollar exchange rate on the 3rd, a currency board at a Myeong-dong exchange office in Jung-gu, Seoul displays the rates. In the Seoul foreign exchange market that day, the won–dollar rate opens at 1,462.3 won, up 22.6 won from the previous trading day./Courtesy of News1

According to Reuters and others, at 12:20 a.m. on the 4th Korea time, the won-dollar exchange rate surpassed 1,500 won. It then extended gains to as high as 1,506 won before slipping back below 1,500 won.

The dollar's strength is seen as being fueled by a surge in international oil prices and heightened volatility in global financial markets as tensions in the Middle East have intensified recently. Amid risk-off flows, emerging-market currency broadly weakened, and the won also deepened its losses.

It is the first time in about 17 years since March 2009, during the global financial crisis, that the won-dollar exchange rate has risen above the 1,500 won level. In the market, there is growing focus on the possibility that exchange-rate volatility will persist for the time being, given that geopolitical risks are unlikely to be resolved quickly.

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