1st LD Writethru: S. Korea cuts policy rate to record low

South Korea's central bank on Wednesday lowered its policy rate from 2.25 percent to 2 percent, marking the record low and the identical rate maintained during the global financial crisis.

Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol and six other policy board members decided to lower the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 2 percent after cutting it by a quarter percentage point in August.

The 2-percent rate was the record low that had been maintained for 17 months from February 2009 to boost the economy at the peak of the global financial crisis.