Minutes after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday night, plunging the country into its worst crisis in decades, his stunned finance minister knew his priorities: throw everything at defending the currency. By around 11 p.m., Choi Sang-mok, who was among the majority of cabinet members who opposed martial law, had set up an emergency meeting at the Seoul Bankers Club, an unofficial meeting place for top policymakers from the central bank, finance ministry, and banking and markets regulators.
As soldiers stormed the nation's parliament, South Korea's top four financial authorities, known as F4, activated an emergency playbook that had been used during past crises, scrambling to head off a crippling selloff in the won before Asian markets awoke.
Choi led discussions between the authorities, three people familiar with the meeting said, with the Bank of Korea responsible for efforts to stabilize the currency.
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