Three Intl. Credit Rating Agencies to Visit Korea

The ratings evaluation teams of the world`s `big three` credit rating agencies will visit the nation starting next week to conduct rating adjustments until June.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) said on April 23 that the ratings evaluation team of Standard & Poor`s (S&P) will stay in Korea for 4 to 5 days from April 28 and conduct talks with senior officials in charge of the economy, politics, and defense of the country.

It is unclear whether Ogawa Takahiro, director of S&P Asia, will also visit, due to current measures in place for SARS which prevents employees in Singapore from traveling overseas.

In addition, the visit of the ratings evaluation team from Moody`s Investors Service was originally set for this month but is very likely to be postponed until June.

MOFE agreed to establish a standing consultative body with Moody`s, which maintains the nation`s sovereign rating as `negative.`

“The North Korean nuclear threat is the biggest issue for these consultation meetings,” said Choi Jong-gu, director general of the International Finance Bureau at MOFE. “The results of the trilateral talks between North Korea, the U.S. and China will have a great impact on the credit ratings.”

Meanwhile, the ratings evaluation team of Fitch-IBCA Inc., the British credit rating agency, is expected to visit Korea in May.

Kwang-Am Cheon iam@donga.com