S. Korea's corporate failures edge up in Nov

SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Korean corporate bankruptcies
slightly increased in November from a month earlier as more manufacturers and
service providers went belly-up, the central bank said Sunday.

The number of business failures reached 135 last month, compared with 124 the
previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The November figure,
however, marks a sharp fall from 297 in the same month last year when the economy
was at the peak of the global economic downturn, the BOK said.
During the reported month, the number of start-ups increased by 150 from a month
earlier to 4,690 last month amid growing economic recovery hopes, the bank said.
The default rate of corporate bills -- bonds, checks and promissory notes --
reached 0.04 percent last month, up 0.02 percentage point from the previous
month. The gain is largely attributable to an increase in forged notes, according
to the BOK.
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.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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