Gov"t to Scrutinize Overseas Assets of Korea

The government will scrutinize overseas assets of companies including financial companies.
The purpose is to effectively assess and manage overseas assets in order to prevent another foreign exchange crisis.
A source at the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) said on March 16, ' Abreast of the implementation of foreign exchange trade liberalization from this coming April 1, it is necessary for the government to manage, universally, overseas assets and liabilities of the private sector.'
He added that the inspection will focus on the exact situation of overseas assets which Korean companies invested towards Southeast Asian and East European countries.
MOFE estimates that as of now, overseas assets total approximately 130 billion dollars including 53 billion dollars in the public sector, 65 billion dollars in financial institutions and 12 billion dollars in private companies.
Among the overseas assets, about 10 to 20 billion dollars are insecure and are unlikely to be reimbursed, MOFE forecasts.

Hyeong Ki Kim ; myriad@joongang.co.kr