S Korea’s won surges to pre-crisis level

SEOUL, Apr 9 (AFP) :  South Korea's won surged Wednesday to its highest level since before the global financial crisis, sparking concern the stronger currency might undermine the export-reliant economy.

The won ended at 1,041.40 to the dollar, up 10.80 won from the previous session and close to the 1,039.80 per dollar reached on August 14, 2008.

The country's continuously strong trade surplus and a recent global weakening of the greenback combined to bolster the won, analysts said.

"Many people believed the won would not strengthen beyond the 1,050 won per dollar in the forseeable future", economist Park Sungwook of the Korea Institute of Finance told AFP.

"But once the won rose past that level, a very large amount of orders to buy the won came in."

Finance Minister Hyun Oh-Seok appeared to hint Wednesday that Seoul would not intervene to stop the rise.

He said Seoul was paying more attention to the won's "volatility rather than the exchange rate itself", adding fuel to the market's frenzy to buy the won.

Analysts said the sudden rise in the won's value could undermine Asia's fourth largest economy by making its exports more expensive compared with competitors.