Finance minister Hong Nam-ki said on Thursday that the government will take measures to stabilize the foreign exchange market if needed.

The minister made the remarks during an emergency economy meeting in Seoul as the local currency plunged to the lowest level in over two years the previous day.

Assessing that the won-dollar exchange rate was rising at a fast pace this week, Hong said the government is closely monitoring the market and will take measures to stabilize it if needed to prevent excessive one-sided movements of the currency.

The Korean won closed at one-thousand-265-point-two won against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, down 14-point-four won from Tuesday's closing. It marks the weakest level since March 23, 2020 when it ended at one-thousand-266-point-five won.

Minister Hong said that the won's recent fall is mostly attributed to external economic risks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive credit tightening and China's COVID-19 lockdown.