Korean won will gain against dollar when Iran conflict eases: BOK chief

If tensions in the Middle East stabilize, the won-dollar exchange rate will likely “fall back just as quickly as it surged,” Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Rhee Chang-yong said Friday. The central bank also held its benchmark interest rate steady at 2.5 percent, marking a seventh consecutive freeze since July 2025 as mounting inflationary pressure and foreign exchange volatility left little room for a policy shift. Following the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran in late February, the won weakened past the 1,500-per-dollar level, even breaching 1,530 for its worst point since 2009 during the global financial crisis. “Foreign investors sold about $7 billion of Korean equities over the entire last year. But this year, from January to April alone, net selling jumped nearly sevenfold to reach $47.8 billion,” Rhee said during his last press conference at BOK headquarters in Seoul. His term ends April 20, and he will likely be succeeded by Shin Hyun-song. The BOK chief attributed the foreign capital outflows to a combination of factors, including heightened sensitivity to geopoliti

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