SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - Like tens of thousands of other South Korean parents, Kim Heung-Guk's dream was to give his children a prestigious overseas education.

Now, he says, "it's like a nightmare" as the Korean won plummets against the dollar and sends the bill for foreign studies and living expenses soaring.

"My wife called me from the US this morning and we talked about it. We've no choice but to cut down costs such as expenses for meals and clothes," said Kim, whose two children have been in the United States for the past five years.

"I'd never expected the dollar-won exchange rate to rise so much ... my acquaintances in the US say it may hit 1,500 won soon," he told AFP.

The won has been falling for most of this year against the dollar but began plunging sharply amid the global financial crisis of recent weeks.

On Monday morning it was 1,246 to the dollar - a drop of 33 percent against the US unit this year.

In education-obsessed South Korea, Kim and thousands like him already make substantial sacrifices to keep children overseas.

The 49-year-old entertainer is a typical "kirogi" (wild goose) - a parent forced to stay in Korea earning money so children can study abroad.

Often the mother accompanies children overseas, leaving innumerable fathers living alone and forced to fly abroad for brief family reunions.

The country has 220,000 overseas students, of whom 117,446 are in the US - the largest foreign student group there.

Cho Mi-Hark, a 53-year-old housewife whose only child left for California last month, now realises how world economic trends can hit an individual.

"I came to realise how great an influence the US economy wields over the world and over me as well," Cho, a school nurse, told AFP.

"My son is quite concerned about the rising dollar and he has been calling me often these days. He called me this morning again, saying 'The exchange rate is rising so fast. Is it okay with you, mom?'"

She also expressed anger at bank officials whose recent advice against buying dollars for her son's tuition and expenses has since cost her dear.

"About a month ago when I could buy the dollar for less than 1,070 won, they advised me not to buy dollars, saying it will come down. But it kept going up and I had to buy at 1,130 won on September 22," she said.

"Even then, they said I should wait. But as you see, you have to pay much more now.

"I'm afraid the dollar may surge to the level of the IMF crisis," she said, referring to the 1997 crisis which forced South Korea to seek a 58-billion-dollar bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

At the peak of that meltdown, the won's value fell by two-thirds to 1,995 against the dollar on December 23, 1997.

It is not only the dollar which is rising.

Han Hyun-Soo said the won had weakened 50 percent against the euro to 1,900 since her daughter left for Germany to study art a year earlier.

She said her family had already cut spending on eating out and leisure.

"I'm now wondering whether we have to move to a smaller apartment," Han told a KBS TV programme.

Even before the worldwide crisis erupted, many students were forced to abandon overseas schooling and come home. The government eased regulations to help them enter domestic schools.

President Lee Myung-Bak and other officials say Korea does not face another 1997 crisis, and can ride out the storm thanks to foreign exchange reserves of around 239 billion dollars.

Kim Heung-Guk, a popular singer, also has words of consolation.

"This is a difficult time for all of us ... Take special care of your health. If you lose your money, just forget about it. But if you lose your health, you will lose everything," he said.