(2nd LD) S. Korea to closely monitor currency market amid increasing volatility

(ATTN: ADDS latest currency rates in 7th para; other govt efforts to stabilize market in last para)
SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will closely monitor financial market conditions, the finance ministry said Friday, calling the recent currency market reaction "excessive."
After holding a policy consultation meeting, the ministry and the Bank of Korea also shared the view that they need to take immediate action in response to any "irregular movement" in the currency market.
The meeting was the third of its kind after the ministry and the central bank agreed in June to hold policy consultations every month. Vice Finance Minister Shin Je-yoon and BOK senior deputy governor Lee Ju-yeol attended the meeting held in central Seoul.
"We will beef up market monitoring through close cooperation between the two agencies, along with other financial authorities," the ministry said in an e-mailed statement.
"The ministry and the BOK share the view that the herd behavior in the currency market is excessive ... and also agreed to take any necessary actions to ease the situation," it added.
The meeting came as deepening eurozone debt worries and a stagnant U.S economy increase volatility in the financial market. South Korea's won was especially hard-hit, with the currency plunging to a one-year low at 1,179.8 to the dollar on Thursday.
The local currency suffered more setbacks Friday as it was trading 1.189.55 won to the greenback as of 10:40 a.m., down 9.75 from the previous day.
The Seoul government has rushed to stabilize the nation's financial market on fears that such instability could lead to a recurrence of the crisis the nation suffered in 2008.
Last week, the finance ministry said in its first verbal market intervention in 17 months that excessive fluctuations in currency exchange rates are undesirable and that the government is closely monitoring currency market conditions.
Meanwhile, the ministry said that it will hold a meeting with executives of the nation's major exporters, such as Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Co., which hold a large amount of dollars, to ask for their cooperation in stabilizing the currency market.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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