The South Korean won gained 1.4 percent last year to the U.S. dollar, becoming the fourth-best performer among major 20 currencies, data showed on Wednesday.

The local currency closed at 1,055.4 won to the greenback on Tuesday, up 15.2 won from the quotation posted at the end of 2012.

According to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea, the euro advanced by the most of 4.6 percent to the U.S. dollar last year, followed by the Chinese yuan which gained 2.8 percent, and the British pound with a 1.6 percent rise.

Other currencies such as the Japanese yen declined. The Japanese currency dropped 18.2 percent to 105.34 yen per dollar from 86.15 yen over the cited period. Also, seven other major currencies such as Indonesia's rupiah sank by a double-digit rate, according to the data.

Meanwhile, the Korean won hiked by 23.6 percent to the Japanese currency last year, the data showed, raising concerns that its exports may lose ground in overseas markets.

Key export items of the two countries overlap in overseas markets, which means that a weaker yen could hurt profitability of South Korean firms. (Yonhap News)