SK Won Slips on Stronger Dollar, Summit Uncertainty

The South Korean won slipped to around 1,386 per dollar on Monday, weakening alongside broader Asian peers amid dollar strength and heightened uncertainty ahead of the South Korea-US summit. The summit, takes place amid the Trump administration’s push to “modernize” the South Korea–US alliance, a move that could require Seoul to shoulder higher defense costs and prompt a restructuring of the 28,500 US troops stationed on the peninsula as Washington ramps up efforts to counter China’s expanding influence. Further weighing on sentiment, South Korea’s steel exports to the United States fell 26% in July to $283 million from $382 million from a year earlier, the lowest since March 2021, after Washington doubled tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 50% in June.