(LEAD) S. Korean biz start-ups rise in Dec.

(ATTN: CORRECTS "Thursday" to "Wednesday" in lead; ADDS more info in para 4)
SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Korean business start-ups rose by
the largest margin in six months in December, the central bank said Wednesday,
underpinning growing optimism about an economic recovery.

The number of newly-established companies stood at 5,424 last month, up 734 from
the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The December gain
marked the largest monthly increase since June when the number of start-ups rose
by 1,364.
The number of business failures, however, reached 152 in December, compared with
135 the previous month. But the December figure stayed below the average of 168
corporate bankruptcies seen in the January-November period of 2009, the BOK
added.
For the whole of 2009, business failures declined to the lowest level since the
central bank began to compile related data. The number of corporate bankruptcies
reached 1,998 last year, sharply down from 2,735 a year ago.
The default rate of corporate bills -- bonds, checks and promissory notes --
reached 0.03 percent last month, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous
month.
A set of economic data are fueling optimism that the Korean economy is emerging
from its worst downturn in more than a decade. Asia's fourth-largest economy grew
3.2 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier, the fastest quarterly
expansion in more than seven years, on improving domestic demand and robust
exports.
sooyeon@yna.co.