Impact of European debt woes limited in S. Korea: senior official

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SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- Debt concerns across Europe will have a "limited"
impact on South Korea, a senior economic policymaker said Tuesday, adding that
the country's exposure to the external risk remains small.
The government will continue to watch market developments in the region, however,
in case of increasing uncertainty and market fluctuations, Vice Finance Minister
Hur Kyung-wook told reporters.
His remarks come as concerns are growing that sovereign debt problems in Greece
and other European nations could undercut the global economic recovery. South
Korea's stocks plunged last week amid the turbulence in U.S. and European
markets, while its currency lost ground against the greenback.
"As we said before, the direct impact of debt problems in those nations remains
limited," he said. "Still, we will continue to watch market developments to brace
for the possibility that uncertainties will further intensify and market
fluctuations increase," he said.
He noted that South Korea's fiscal status remains sound but the government will
work hard to achieve a balanced budget by its target year of 2013-2014.
Meanwhile, the official reiterated that the government' policy priority for this
year is to create jobs as the nation seems to be entering into a period of
"jobless" economic growth, as opposed to previous decades when growth translated
into more work.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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