Seoul: Won, stocks weaken as the market wrestles with political woes

[SEOUL] The South Korean won and shares slipped slightly on Friday as investors remained wary over the political crisis gripping President Park Geun-hye as she vowed to cooperate with prosecutors investigating an influence peddling scandal.

The won was quoted at 1,143.4 to the dollar at the conclusion of onshore trade, down 0.3 per cent compared to Thursday's close of 1,139.6.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed down 0.1 per cent at 1,982.02 points.

Offshore investors sold a net 191.7 billion won (US$167.65 million) worth of KOSPI shares for the day.

South Korean stocks lost 2 per cent on a weekly basis, biggest loss since mid June of this year.

REUTERS