S. Korean currency gains against US dollar amid talks to end Iran war

Seoul, March 25 (IANS) The South Korean won rose further against the US dollar on Wednesday as US President Donald Trump continued to signal the possibility of a swift end to the ongoing Middle East conflict.

The won opened at 1,493 per dollar, up 2.2 won from the previous session, reports Yonhap news agency.

The currency had surged to 1,495.2 won per dollar Tuesday, recovering from a 17-year low of 1,517.3 won in the previous session after Trump said that he had ordered a five-day postponement of threatened strikes on Iranian energy facilities and that negotiations were under way to end the conflict.

Tehran, however, has denied claims that it has been in contact with the United States, calling them an attempt to manipulate energy prices and stock markets, according to foreign media reports.

Domestic and global foreign exchange and stock markets have experienced heightened volatility as U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began late last month have escalated into a broader regional conflict.

Global oil prices have risen markedly as the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively shut since the start of the conflict, disrupting global oil supplies.

Meanwhile, the value of South Korea's virtual asset market dipped 8 percent in the second half of last year from six months earlier, largely on falling prices of key cryptocurrencies, data showed on Wednesday.

The market capitalisation of the virtual asset market came to 87.2 trillion won (US$58.4 billion) as of end-December, down 7.9 trillion won from six months ago, according to the data from the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

The total value of Korean won deposits made by traders rose 1.9 trillion won, or 31 percent, to 8.1 trillion won during the July-December period, while the operating profit of market operators dipped 38 percent to 381 billion won over the cited period.

There were 27 virtual asset market operators in South Korea as of end-2025, including 18 crypto exchanges, according to the financial regulator.

During the July-December period, the average value of daily crypto transactions reached 5.4 trillion won, down 15 percent from the daily average of 6.4 trillion won in the first half of 2025, according to the FSC.

The number of market users gained 3 percent to some 11.13 million over the cited period.

—IANS

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