SEOUL, The South Korean foreign exchange market had ample liquidity in the Korean won-dollar trading on the first day with extended trading hours, the finance ministry said Tuesday, vowing enhanced market monitoring to curb possible volatility. Starting Monday, the operating hours of the foreign exchange market were extended to 9 a.m.-2 a.m. the following day, versus the current 3:30 p.m. close. On the first day under the new scheme, trading proceeded without a hitch, and the market had ample liquidity as the total spot trading volume came to US$12.57 billion, which included $2.46 billion traded between 3:30 p.m. on Monday and 2 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. "The structural changes are meant to make the foreign exchange market more competitive and open to many people to align with the global standards," Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said during his visit to a trading room of Hana Bank in Seoul. "The government will continue to actively extend support to domestic banks t o help them play a leading role in ensuring the stable implementation of these changes," he said. Bank of Korea Deputy Gov. Ryoo Sang-dai said the authorities will carefully monitor the market situations and make efforts to ensure stability. Ryoo also asked for domestic financial institutions to play a role in minimizing excess volatility following the structural changes. Source: Yonhap News Agency