SEOUL: The Bank of Korea said Friday it had sold a net US$1.81 billion in the first quarter of the year amid the weakening of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar. The first-quarter dollar selling marks a turnaround from the fourth quarter's net purchase of $1.98 billion, which marked the first in three years to snap the nine straight quarters of dollar selling for market-smoothing operations since the third quarter of 2021. The Korean currency traded at 1,347.2 won to the greenback at the end of March, down from 1,288.0 won at the end of last year. Source: Yonhap News Agency