S. Korea's financial markets fall on N. Korean nuclear test report

SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's stock and currency markets sharply lost
ground late Monday morning on reports that North Korea has conducted a second
nuclear test, analysts said.

The presidential office and government officials said earlier in the day that
South Korea has detected an "artificial earthquake" in North Korea, suggesting
the communist state went ahead with its threat to conduct a nuclear test.
North Korea later confirmed the test via a report by its Korean Central News
Agency.
After the report came out, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index
(KOSPI) fell 2.72 percent to 1,365.56 as of 11:57 a.m. The local currency was
trading at 1,259 won to the U.S. dollar, down 10.6 won from Friday's close.
The fall comes amid growing tension on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea
launched a defiant rocket on April 5. The launch prompted the U.N. Security
Council to issue a condemnation saying the launch violated a U.N. resolution
banning the North from ballistic activity.
The market largely shrugged off the death of former South Korean President Roh
Moo-hyun, but extended earlier losses on the report on North Korea's nuclear
test.
Roh, who served as South Korea's president from 2003 to 2008, committed suicide
on Saturday by jumping off a mountainside in his hometown amid an ongoing
investigation into allegations that he and his family received at least US$6
million in bribes from a corrupt businessman while in office.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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