South Korea’s finance minister on Tuesday said the government will examine if there is a speculative force behind the won’s recent slide against the dollar, after the local currency plunged to a seven-year low.

The won tumbled as much as seven per cent yesterday, the most since December 1997, when a currency crisis forced the country to seek a $60bn bailout from the International Monetary Fund. It ended down 4.4 per cent at Won1,328.10 per dollar.