Moody’s Keeps Credit Rating for Korea

The U.S. credit-rating company Moody’s announced that it would maintain its national credit rating for Korea at “A3 negative.”

An authority from the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) said on May 29, that “Moody’s sent us an official letter with the announcement. This notification by Moody’s was sent since the Korean government had asked its national credit rating to issue 1 billion dollars worth of foreign exchange counterbalance funds in bonds.”

Moody’s lowered two levels of Korea’s credit rating from “Positive” to “Negative” factoring in the worsening North Korean nuclear issue on February 11 and announced that it would keep rating on March 12.

Fitch Ratings Ltd. and Standard & Poor’s of the United States, referred to as the foremost credit-rating companies along with Moody’s announced on May 28 and 26, respectively, that they would not change the credit rating for Korea which previously stood at “A Stable” and “A- Stable”.

MOFE’s International Affairs Policy Director Kwan Tae-shin is currently visiting New York to gain issuance of some 1 billion dollars worth of bonds. Goldman Sachs will become the publisher.

Kwang-Am Cheon iam@donga.com