South Korea's currency on Thursday fell below the 1,300-won level against the US dollar for the first time in about 13 years amid growing concerns about global monetary tightening and an economic recession.

The Korean currency was trading at 1,300.70 won against the dollar as of 9:52 a.m., down 3.40 won from the previous session.

It marked the first time that the won has fallen through the 1,300-won level since July 14, 2009, in intraday trading.

Market volatility has recently heightened over fears of the US central bank's aggressive monetary tightening and a resulting global recession. The won has slid around 8 percent against the dollar so far this year.

Overnight, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told a congressional hearing that interest rate hikes intended to fight inflation could lead to an economic recession, which sparked demand for safer assets.

Last week, the Fed raised its key rate by 0.75 percentage point, the sharpest hike since 1994, to curb surging inflation, and signaled it could raise the rate by the similar margin next month.

Fed watchers expect the US central bank will deliver more steep rate hikes in the months to come.

Seoul's stocks traded higher Thursday due to bargain hunting, after they tumbled nearly 3 percent the previous day. The benchmark KOSPI had risen 14.16 points, or 0.6 percent, to trade at 2,355.75 as of 9:52 a.m. (Yonhap)