S. Korea's sovereign rating not affected by N.K. rocket launch: Fitch

SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's latest rocket launch will likely
"jeopardize" the six-party denuclearization talks but will not have an immediate
effect on South Korea's sovereign ratings, Fitch Ratings said Sunday.
Earlier in the day, the North launched what it says is a satellite into orbit,
raising already high regional tensions as neighbors suspect the move is a cover
to test a ballistic missile capable of hitting Alaska.
"South Korea's sovereign ratings remain constrained by political, security and
economic uncertainties regarding North Korea," Ngiam Ai Ling, director of Fitch's
Asia Sovereign Ratings, told Yonhap News Agency in an e-mail.
"Potential reunification costs are an important consideration and one that we
assess in the context of other political and security developments. Recent
developments have not given us any further guidance on these potential costs, and
thus our view is unchanged," she noted.
She then made clear that Fitch would maintain South Korea's sovereign rating as
unchanged at A-plus with a negative outlook.
Her remarks come after the global ratings agency lowered its outlook from
"stable" to "negative" in November, reflecting the impact of ongoing global
financial turbulence on the country's economy. It has kept its current grade for
Asia's fourth-largest economy unchanged since 2005.
Ngiam also said that Fitch sees the rocket launch as part of North Korea's
ballistic missile program and that it will likely "jeopardize the progress of the
six-party talks." The talks have been stalled since December over a dispute on
verification of the North's nuclear program.
Fitch also views the latest developments as a "continuation" of the protracted
political maneuverings of North Korea and expects a more aggressive tone from
Pyongyang down the road, coinciding with recent domestic stresses in the North.
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