The won just hit a 14-month high, two months after its worst point
On 7 September the won closed at 1,355.2 to the dollar — its strongest since 2 July 2025. That is 12.8% stronger than the 1,554.4 it hit on 2 July 2026, almost exactly a year later. The whole year's move unwound in nine weeks.
AI-assisted, human-reviewed sourcing. Figures are pulled programmatically from the official sources listed at the end of this article and checked by an editor before publication.
wonusd/krwexchange rateexporterskorea
The Bank of Korea publishes a basic exchange rate for the dollar every trading day. On 7 September 2026 it closed at 1,355.2 won. Scan back through every one of the 400-plus daily prints since the start of 2025 and only one day was lower: 2 July 2025, at 1,352.6 — 2.6 won below today, and otherwise indistinguishable from it.
In between, the won took a round trip that erased itself.
The trip
| Date | Rate | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 2 July 2025 | 1,352.6 | 20-month low |
| 2 July 2026 | 1,554.4 | 20-month high |
| 7 September 2026 | 1,355.2 | Back to a 14-month low |
From the July 2025 low to the July 2026 high, the dollar cost 14.9% more won. From that high to today, it cost 12.8% less. The climb took a year. The round trip back took 67 calendar days.
The last nine weeks, day by day
The decline from the peak was not a single move — it built through August and accelerated into September:
| Date | Rate |
|---|---|
| 3 August 2026 | 1,433.6 |
| 10 August | 1,420.1 |
| 19 August | 1,411.0 |
| 24 August | 1,383.6 |
| 31 August | 1,376.5 |
| 4 September | 1,359.5 |
| 7 September | 1,355.2 |
From 3 August to 7 September — 35 days — the rate fell 78.4 won, or 5.5%. The pace has not slowed on the way down; the last four trading days alone (2–7 September) covered 15.1 won of the move.
Why this matters to exporters, not travelers
A won that buys more dollars is good news for anyone converting dollars to spend at home. It is the opposite for a company that earns dollars and reports in won: the same $100 sale now converts to roughly 12.8% fewer won than it did in early July. For an economy where exports are a large share of output, a move of this size over nine weeks changes what a quarter’s dollar revenue is worth before a single unit sold or bought changes.
This is a settlement-rate series, not a trading signal, and it says nothing about why the rate moved or where it goes next. What it says, with 410 days of official data behind it, is narrower and harder to dispute: as of 7 September, the won is trading at levels last seen 14 months ago, and it got there by giving back an entire year’s weakening in about two months.
Not investment advice.
Data & Verification Notes
- Data as of
- Sources
- Cross-checks
- 410 daily observations, 2 January 2025 to 7 September 2026, no gaps beyond non-trading days
- 7 September 2026 close of 1,355.2 is the lowest value in the series since 2 July 2025's 1,352.6 — checked by scanning every day between the two dates for a lower value; none exists
- 2 July 2026's 1,554.4 is the series maximum across the full 20-month window
- 12.8% move computed as (1,554.4 − 1,355.2) / 1,554.4; the two dates are 67 calendar days apart
- Excluded figures
- Cause. The data is a daily settlement rate, not a record of what moved it — no attribution to any single policy, flow or event is made here
- Intraday levels. This is the Bank of Korea's official daily basic rate (매매기준율), set each morning; it is not the day's high, low or closing spot trade, which can differ
- Any forecast of where the rate goes next. Currency levels are not predicted here
- Not investment advice
The full dataset behind these figures — every listed company, every row — is available to license. SeoulMarkets data for licence →
Not investment advice. SMarkets publishes data journalism for general information only. Nothing here is investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security — any investment you make is at your own risk and responsibility. Figures are derived from official public data sources and may be revised by the issuing agency. Verify independently before acting.
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