S.Korea's currency hits over 13-year low on strong U.S. dollar

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's currency hit the lowest in over 13 years Tuesday on the strong U.S. dollar, leading the foreign exchange authorities to issue a verbal warning.

The won/dollar exchange rate finished at 1,345.5 won per dollar, up 5.7 won from the previous close. It marked the highest in more than 13 years since the exchange rate reached 1,356.8 won on April 28, 2009.

To slow the local currency's rapid slide to the greenback, the country's foreign exchange authorities formally issued a verbal warning, saying it will closely monitor whether there were speculative bets from the offshore market to boost the won/dollar exchange rate.

Despite the verbal warning in the morning, the exchange rate continued to rise amid the global strong dollar trend.

Expectations ran high for the U.S. Federal Reserve to continue the aggressive tightening of its monetary policy in a bid to counter surging inflation.

Local stocks ended lower amid the domestic currency's weakness. The benchmark Kospi retreated 27.16 points, or 1.10 percent, to finish at 2,435.34, posting the lowest close in almost a month.