South Korea's financial regulator to convene emergency meeting

South Korea's top financial regulator will convene an emergency meeting to intensify monitoring of the local financial market following North Korea's long-range missile launch, an official said Sunday.

In the meeting scheduled to take place at 11:00 a.m., the Financial Services Commission (FSC) will check the impact of the rocket launch on global and local markets and discuss ways to deal with possible risks.

The South Korean financial market has been struggling with rising uncertainties at home and abroad such as faltering exports and fast-falling oil prices.

"We will review our contingency plans and risk management procedures in order to take immediate action in case of emergency," said an FSC official.

The South Korean stock and foreign exchange markets will have been closed until Wednesday with Hong Kong, China and Taiwan for the Lunar New Year's holiday.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Strategy and Trade said it has launched a round-the-clock monitoring system on the global financial market to check the fluctuation of foreign currency rates and other economic indices.

The ministry will hold a macroeconomic meeting on Wednesday to check the long-term economic effects of the North Korean provocation.(Yonhap)