SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's daily trading in the inter-bank foreign exchange market hit a record high last year on geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula, central bank data showed Thursday.
The daily average trading in the inter-bank market reached a new high of 50.64 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up 2.26 billion dollars, or 4.7 percent, from the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It came as demand increased for the hedging amid the rising geopolitical risks on the peninsula, caused by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s sixth nuclear test and test-launches of ballistic missiles.
Transactions of the derivatives expanded 7.2 percent over the year to 31.04 billion dollars in 2017. The daily average foreign exchange trading on spot inched up 0.9 percent to 19.6 billion dollars.
Tensions eased on the peninsula this year as the DPRK sent its athletes, cheerleaders and a high-ranking delegation to the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics.
The Winter Olympic Games, which kicked off on Feb. 9, are slated to hold a closing ceremony on Feb. 25. It will be followed by the Winter Paralympic Games set to run from March 9 to 18. Enditem
