SEOUL, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The chief of South Korea's

financial market watchdog said on Monday authorities would

review protection measures for retail investors regarding

foreign exchange risks amid persistent weakness in the won

currency.

"From the perspective of consumer protection, we will review

whether the matters related to hedging foreign exchange risks

for overseas investments are being fully explained by financial

firms," Lee Chan-jin, the governor of the Financial Supervisory

Service, told a press conference.

Lee was speaking on an earlier government announcement that

authorities would conduct inspections on protection measures for

retail investors, adding that they do not plan to regulate

overseas stock investments.

The won has weakened more than 4% against the dollar

so far this quarter, which the country's central bank last week

attributed to increasing overseas investments by residents and

sales of domestic stocks by foreigners.

There is no sign of risks for financial firms in terms of

foreign exchange exposure, Lee said. "On the contrary, some

insurance firms are making profit," he said.

Regarding ongoing investigations into private equity firm

MBK Partners and media reports of potential heavy sanctions, Lee

said a decision would be made this month.

MBK has previously declined to comment on the

investigations.

Lee also said authorities, who are also investigating local

banks over their sales of equity-linked derivatives, would take

into account their efforts to compensate investor losses.

Recent data leaks at financial firms and other South Korean

companies, including cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, Lotte Card

and e-commerce retailer Coupang ( CPNG ), raise the need for

stronger regulations, Lee said, criticising companies for being

negligent on data security.