South Korea’s authorities have warned that a prolonged and excessive weakening of the won is undesirable, signalling a readiness to deploy a broad set of policy tools as the currency hovers near levels last seen during the global financial crisis the Yonhap News Agency has reported.

The comments amount to the clearest verbal intervention in recent weeks, after the won came under sustained pressure despite multiple stabilisation efforts. The currency has fallen below the psychologically important KRW1,450 per dollar mark and earlier this week traded close to KRW1,484, its weakest level in about 16 years.

According to Yonhap News Agency, officials say a series of inter-agency meetings over the past fortnight has produced targeted measures designed to underline both policy resolve and the government’s capacity to act in a coordinated manner. The authorities expect this commitment to become evident in the market shortly.

The won briefly touched fresh lows in early trading on December 23 before recovering following the intervention. Analysts attribute much of the recent weakness to strong dollar demand from importers settling payments, as well as domestic investors increasing allocations to overseas equities ahead of year-end.

In response, the finance ministry, central bank and agencies overseeing the National Pension Service have established a joint consultative body to design a new framework linking the pension fund’s overseas investment strategy more closely with foreign exchange market stability. Additional steps include changes to forward FX regulations, easing of liquidity stress-test requirements and expanded foreign currency lending to residents.

The presidential office has also held an emergency meeting with leaders of the country’s largest conglomerates as Seoul intensifies efforts to arrest the won’s decline.