S. Korea delays selling sovereign debts due to credit crunch abroad: official

NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has decided to postpone indefinitely its plan to sell US$1 billion worth of sovereign bonds abroad as the financial crunch worsened in the international market due to resurging liquidity problems of investment bank Lehman Brothers, a South Korean official said Thursday.

"We've decided to delay the sale as we are no longer in desperate need for
money (foreign exchange) supply," Deputy Finance Minister Shin Je-yun told
reporters. "Investors' response is that they are forced to demand higher
rates due to worsening market conditions here, although they feel like purchasing
South Korean sovereign debts because of South Korea's economic situation, which
is good enough."

hdh@yna.co.kr

(END)