Bank of Korea governor nominee vows to respond to excessive won weakness

"Although dollar-won exchange rates recently fell slightly to the 1,480 level, their increases since the Middle East conflict had been bigger than other currencies and ⁠uncertainty is still high, so we will closely monitor foreign exchange market conditions," Shin Hyun-song said.

On Monday, the won weakened as much as 1.1% to 1,499.7 per dollar, after talks between the U.S. and Iran over the weekend failed to reach a deal to end the conflict.

Shin said it was not necessary to worry about the level of dollar-won rates ‌itself, ⁠given stable liquidity conditions, while he declined to answer a lawmaker's question on the outlook for exchange rates.

On a separate question regarding monetary policy, Shin said increased inflation pressure from the Middle East ⁠conflict would be considered most in future policy decisions, according to a report by the Yonhap News Agency.

Meanwhile, downward pressure on growth ⁠is somewhat being mitigated by robust semiconductor exports and an extra budget, Shin said.

The central bank last week kept its policy interest ⁠rate steady and warned of a highly uncertain path, as it flagged a downgrade in its growth forecasts and higher inflation projections.