The won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,504 won to the U.S. dollar on the 28th, up 2.8 won from the previous day.
The rise in the exchange rate is seen as due to diminished expectations overnight that the United States and Iran would reach a cease-fire deal. If such geopolitical risks do not subside, demand for safe-haven assets tends to increase in the market, raising the value of the dollar, the key currency.
U.S. President Donald Trump said of cease-fire talks with Iran that they had "not reached a satisfactory level." Presiding over a Cabinet meeting at the White House on the 27th (local time), President Trump said, "Iran very much wants to clinch a deal."
Aiming at Iran, President Trump said, "They are negotiating on fumes," adding, "We'll have to see what happens. Maybe we will have to go back and finish it off, or maybe there is no need to do that right now." It is interpreted as hinting at the possibility of destroying civilian infrastructure such as Iran's power plants and bridges.
On the next day, the 28th (local time), Reuters reported that explosions were heard in a strait near Hormuz. According to foreign media reports, around 1:30 a.m. that day, three explosions were heard east of Bandar Abbas, a port city in southern Iran. On the 25th, loud blasts also rang out in southern Iran; at the time, U.S. Central Command said it exercised the right of self-defense and had carried out airstrikes on certain targets in the area.
Min Kyung-won, a researcher at Woori Bank, said, "As the United States and Iran showed differences, cracks appeared in the optimism over (cease-fire) talks," adding, "This led the dollar to show a stronger bias."