BOK chief to hold emergency meeting on Brexit

The head of South Korea's central bank will preside over an emergency meeting later in the day with the bank's senior staff to discuss ways of dealing with any fallout from Britain's unexpected decision to leave the European Union (EU), it said Monday.

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol returned home earlier in the day, cutting short his trip to Basel, Switzerland, for the emergency meeting over the Brexit crisis.

The BOK's meeting, starting at 2:30 p.m., follows an earlier meeting hosted by the Financial Services Commission where the head of the top financial regulator vowed all-out efforts to counter any negative impact from Britain's exit from the EU.

"There still exists a possibility that volatility in the global financial market may further expand due to possible departures of other countries from the EU and various other factors that might emerge in the process of the market shifting to a new balance following Brexit," Yim Jong-yong told the meeting, attended by key financial officials, including the heads of the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Federation of Banks and the Korea Financial Investment Association.

Lee was expected to urge close monitoring of sudden fluctuations in the foreign currency market, bank officials noted.

The BOK chief was originally scheduled to return home Tuesday following his trip to the European country for the annual general assembly of the Bank for International Settlements.

Shortly after Britain's vote Friday, the U.S. greenback shot up 2.52 percent against the South Korean won, closing at 1,179.90 won per dollar.

The dollar continued to gain ground against the local currency, trading at 1,183.45 won per dollar as of 2 p.m. (Yonhap)