Groups in a Hurry to Pay Back Foreign Debt

The government will allow foreign subsidiaries of domestic companies to issue company bonds in Korea to pay back its U.S. dollar debt.
Due to the presence of too many dollars in Korea, Korean companies wish to reduce the number in a bid to stabilize the exchange rate.
To date Korean companies have not been able to issue any company bonds both in and out of the country.
A source from the Ministry of Finance and Economy on February 8 said, '4-5 major national domestic companies wiht foreign franchises asked us if it would be possible to publish bonds and we tentatively decided to approve it.'
Foreign companies might be bringing out the bonds amounting to between 1-2 billion dollars (U.S.) in a year.
The measure is being taken to both reduce foreign debt and reduce the possibility of the won's rise against the greenback.