Continued acts of retaliation from China hasdealt a punishing blow to the Korean economy.

Instability, as the won to dollar currencyexchange rate has skyrocketed on Friday.

Kim Mok-yeon tells us more.

China announced on Friday it will ban salesof all travel packages to Korea.

The announcement dealt a big blow to the Koreaneconomy as Chinese visitors make up almost 50-percent of all foreign tourists to Korea.

Following the news, the benchmark KOSPI dropped23-point-9 points or 1-point-1 percent to close at 2-thousand-78.

The local currency also took a blow, closingat 11-hundred-56 against the U.

S.

dollar, up 14-point-5 won from the previous session'sclose.

This marks the second largest increase followinga more-than 15 won hike in January.

Seoul’s foreign exchange market is alsokeeping a close eye on the possibility of a U.

S.

rate hike in March.

All eyes are now on Fed Chair Janet Yellen'sspeech scheduled for Friday, where she is expected to share her organization's economicoutlook.

Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.

Source: Youtube