The Korean won appreciated at its fastest monthly pace since 2009, driven largely by a surge in U.S. dollar inflows into the country's foreign exchange market following SK hynix Inc.'s American depositary receipt (ADR) offering on the Nasdaq, industry data showed Sunday. The won was quoted at 1,424 per U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m. Friday, up 125.4 won from the end of June, according to foreign exchange data. The monthly gain was the largest since March 2009, when the won strengthened by 150.5 won against the U.S. dollar in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The currency has rebounded steadily after falling to a more than 17-year low of 1,599.2 won per dollar in intraday trading on July 1. On a weekly basis, the won gained 42.6 won against the dollar in the final week of July, marking its strongest weekly performance since the second week of November 2022. Among major currencies, the won posted the strongest gain against the U.S. dollar last month. According to separate data compiled by Yonhap Infomax, the won appreciated 7.95 percent against the dollar in July from a month earlier,