As executive director of the IMF, Oh Jong Nam holds a position that doesn't make for smooth social situations: he represents South Korea (and 13 other countries) at an organization most Koreans are wary of. Part of the widespread distrust is inevitable, Oh said. When the IMF makes big loans to distressed countries, it has to demand certain structural reforms as collateral, so it will never be as popular as the World Bank, which simply finances expensive, highly visible infrastructure projects.

Read more: South Korea's Experience with the IMF

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Moody's Sovereign Risk Group has given South Korea one of its highest sovereign debt ratings, A3, and doesn't foresee lowering that rating anytime in the immediate future. This good news was delivered by Thomas J. Byrne, vice president and senior credit officer, Moody's Financial Institutions and Sovereign Risk Group, during a Business Roundtable luncheon. Byrne explained that his company's assessment, which places Korea's ability to repay its borrowing as one of the highest in the developing world, is based on the country's strong fundamentals. Currently, good governance and regulatory regimes, a dynamic export sector, low levels of public debt and high levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) all make South Korea a good risk for lenders and bond buyers, he said.

Read more: Moody's Views on South Korean Developments and Ratings

Speaking at an afternoon forum, Stephen Pelletier, chairman and CEO of Prudential International Investments, told his audience what they already knew: South Korea's rapid industrialization following the Korean War is the envy of developing economies across the globe. Then he told them what to expect from South Korea in the near future: an equally ambitious attempt to build its own financial infrastructure and with it, become Northeast Asia's hub for financial services and investment.

Read more: South Korea's Development as a Financial Center

The Korea Society hosted a meeting of the advisory council of the Korea Economic Institute that featured a luncheon address by Han Song Ryol, the deputy permanent representative of the DPRK to the United Nations. In his address, Han stressed that the pervasive hostility in the U.S.-DPRK relationship is a result of the fact that both sides possess nuclear weapons and not vice versa. He noted that the DPRK ultimately would like to reach an agreement with the U.S. similar to the 1994 Agreed Framework, but it is concerned that if an agreement were to be reached the U.S. would then "move the goalposts" by predicating any further improvement in ties on the achievement of progress on other issues such as human rights and conventional arms reduction.

Read more: KEI Advisory Council Meeting