{"id":25190,"date":"2026-05-16T02:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/?p=25190"},"modified":"2026-05-16T02:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T23:18:07","slug":"south-korean-won-weakens-sharply-amid-middle-east-tensions-and-us-inflation-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/?p=25190&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"South Korean Won Weakens Sharply Amid Middle East Tensions and US Inflation Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap)<\/strong> \u2013 The <strong>South Korean won<\/strong> experienced a significant depreciation against the <strong>U.S. dollar<\/strong> on Wednesday, driven by persistent geopolitical uncertainties in the <strong>Middle East<\/strong> and higher-than-anticipated <strong>inflation figures<\/strong> from the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The local currency commenced trading at 1,493.8 won per dollar, marking a 3.9 won decline from its closing rate in the preceding session. The won has displayed considerable <strong>volatility<\/strong> in recent trading periods, largely attributed to the stalled progress in negotiations between Washington and Tehran aimed at de-escalating regional conflicts.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the won had already seen a substantial drop of 17.5 won on Tuesday, closing at 1,489.9 won. This marked its lowest valuation since April 4, when the exchange rate stood at 1,504.2 won per dollar.<\/p>\n<h2>US Inflation Fuels Rate Hike Concerns<\/h2>\n<p>Adding to the economic headwinds, overnight data from the U.S. revealed a sharp rise in consumer prices for the second consecutive month in April. This surge represented the largest annual increase in <strong>inflation<\/strong> in nearly three years, intensifying market expectations that the <strong>Federal Reserve<\/strong> will maintain its current interest rates for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<h2>Geopolitical Tensions Drive Oil Prices Higher<\/h2>\n<p>Further exacerbating the situation, ongoing concerns regarding the potential for prolonged conflict between the U.S. and Iran have driven West Texas Intermediate (WTI) <strong>crude oil prices<\/strong> above US$102 per barrel. Elevated <strong>oil prices<\/strong> exert downward pressure on the won, as South Korea, being heavily reliant on energy imports, experiences increased demand for U.S. dollars to finance these crucial purchases.<\/p>\n<h2>KOSPI Dips Amid Foreign Selling<\/h2>\n<p>Reflecting the heightened market anxieties, the benchmark <strong>Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI)<\/strong> registered a decline of 2.46 percent, settling at 7,447.17 as of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. This downturn was primarily driven by significant foreign selling pressure.<\/p>\n<p>#SouthKoreanWon #CurrencyVolatility #MiddleEastTensions #USInflation #FederalReserve #OilPrices #KOSPI #EconomicImpact #Geopolitics #ForexMarket<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) \u2013 The South Korean won experienced a significant depreciation against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, driven by persistent geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East and higher-than-anticipated inflation figures from the United States. The local currency commenced trading at 1,493.8 won per dollar, marking a 3.9 won decline from its closing rate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}