원·달러 환율 1397.7원…11개월 만에 1300원대
Korean Won Closes at 1,397.7 to the Dollar, Back Under 1,400 After About 11 Months
Part of the August 20, 2026 daily edition
19일 서울 외환시장에서 원·달러 환율이 전 거래일보다 14.1원 내린 1397.7원에 주간 거래를 마쳤습니다. 오후 3시 30분 주간 종가 기준으로 환율이 1400원 아래로 내려간 것은 지난해 9월 말 이후 약 11개월 만입니다. 미국에서는 7월 소매판매가 전월보다 0.6% 줄었고, 소비자물가지수 상승률도 전월보다 둔화했습니다. 국내에서는 법인세 중간예납 기간을 맞아 수출기업이 가지고 있던 달러를 원화로 바꾸는 물량이 나온 것으로 분석됩니다. 외국인은 지난 11일부터 5거래일 연속 국내 증시에서 순매수하며 약 8조원어치의 주식을 사들였습니다.
Translation
On the 19th, on the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar rate closed daytime trading at 1,397.7 won, down 14.1 won from the previous trading day. Measured by the daytime close at 3:30 p.m., this is the first time in about 11 months, since the end of September last year, that the rate has fallen below 1,400 won. In the United States, July retail sales fell 0.6% from the previous month, and the rise in the consumer price index also slowed compared with the month before. At home, analysts point to the corporate tax mid-year prepayment period, during which exporters put up dollars they were holding to convert into won. Foreign investors bought a net total of about 8 trillion won of shares on the domestic stock market, buying on net for five trading days in a row from the 11th.
Vocabulary
- 환율명사 (noun)exchange rate
- 외환시장명사 (noun)foreign exchange market
- 거래일명사 (noun)trading day
- 종가명사 (noun)closing price
- 소매판매명사 (noun)retail sales
- 소비자물가지수명사 (noun)consumer price index
- 순매수명사 (noun)net buying (buying more than selling)
- 증시명사 (noun)the stock market
Grammar points
N보다than N
보다 attaches directly to a noun and marks the thing being compared against. Korean puts it before the adjective or verb, the reverse of English word order: 전 거래일보다 14.1원 내린 — 'down 14.1 won from (literally: than) the previous trading day'. 더 ('more') is optional and often left out in news writing.
Example: 오늘은 어제보다 사람이 적습니다.
There are fewer people today than yesterday.
N 만에after N (an interval), for the first time in N
After a length of time, 만에 says how long it has been since the same thing last happened. It is not simply 'in 11 months' — it means the gap since the previous occurrence: 약 11개월 만입니다 — 'it is the first time in about 11 months'. Note that 만 here has nothing to do with 만 meaning 'only'.
Example: 삼 년 만에 고향에 갔습니다.
I went back to my hometown for the first time in three years.
-(으)며while ~ing, and (at the same time)
-(으)며 joins two clauses that share a subject, either listing them together or saying they happen at the same time. It belongs to written and formal Korean; conversation uses -(으)면서 for the simultaneous meaning. The article stacks two facts about the same investors: 순매수하며 … 사들였습니다.
Example: 그는 회사를 다니며 대학원에서 공부했습니다.
He worked at a company while studying at graduate school.
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