South Korean Won Opens Stronger vs. Dollar Despite Failed U.S.-Iran Truce Talks

The South Korean won opened stronger against the U.S. dollar on Monday as market optimism held up despite the collapse of a second round of U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks.

In Seoul trading, the won was quoted at 1,477.4 per dollar as of 9:20 a.m. It opened at 1,477.6, down 6.9 won from the previous session.

On April 25 (local time), Iran left Pakistan ahead of a planned visit by a U.S. envoy, and the U.S. negotiating team also canceled its trip. The developments effectively scuttled a second round of U.S.-Iran talks that had been expected to take place in Pakistan.

U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he had "just canceled" the delegation’s schedule to travel to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet Iranian officials, saying too much time would be wasted traveling and that he had "a lot to do."

"We have all the cards and they have no cards," Trump wrote, adding, "If they want to talk, they can just call."

He left open the possibility of dialogue by phone or other channels. In a call with online outlet Axios, Trump said "no" when asked whether the failed talks meant a resumption of war with Iran, adding, "We haven’t thought about that yet."

Bitcoin rose on Sunday, suggesting limited damage to risk appetite from the failure of face-to-face talks between the two countries.

Min Kyung-won, an economist at Woori Bank, said South Korean stocks are likely to attempt a limited rise as buying by retail and institutional investors flows in. She added that the exchange rate is likely to face more downward pressure, supported by end-of-month exporter dollar selling and a positive lift from equities.