National debt exceeds 119 trillion won

The Ministry of Finance & Economy announced Tuesday that Korea`s national debt grew by as much as 11% or 11.9 trillion won last year to 119.7 trillion won,

equivalent to 23.1% of the nation`s gross domestic product. The figure breaks down to about 2.5 million won per capita.

The national debt recently increased dramatically as the government needed financial resources to boost the economy after the foreign exchange crisis of 1997. The debt rose from 65.6 trillion won at the end of that year to 87.7 trillion in 1998 and 107.7 trillion in 1999.

The central government`s debt increased by 11.2 trillion won last year to 100.9 trillion won. Payment guarantees by the federal government, which is not

classified as a national debt under International Monetary Fund (IMF) criteria, stood at 74.5 trillion won, a 7 trillion won reduction from the end of 1999.

Kwon Soon-Hwal shkwon@donga.com