Never in their worst nightmares would South Koreans have imagined the currency at levels approaching 2,000 to the dollar. A few weeks ago the 1,000 mark was considered a major psychological barrier.

But there seems no end in sight to the collapse of the currency amid a continuing scramble for dollars to pay off corporate debt. There was a brief respite from the financial turmoil last week.

The Central Bank intervened in support of the won and all the candidates standing in Thursday's presidential election agreed to abide by the terms of a stringent rescue package from the International Monetary Fund. But panic has now returned to the markets with a vengeance.

There is still fears that South Korea could default on its short term foreign debts -- a move that would spell disaster for one of the world's larger trading economies. A further downgrade in South Korea's credit ratings on Monday brought on the latest bout of turmoil.

The plunge in currency and sky high interest rates will put even more pressure on South Korea's beleaguered industrial groups, many of which are already groaning under huge debt burdens. The President-elect, Kim Dae-Jung, appears to have acknowledged the reality of rising unemployment.