Ruling party spurns foreign media reports on Korean economy

SEOUL, Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- In an uncommon move, South Korea's ruling party on Friday released a statement in English accusing some foreign media outlets of exaggerating the state of the nation's economy.

The conservative Grand National Party's statement began by addressing "the
exceedingly few unfriendly foreign presses out there."
"Compared to other countries, Korea has a relatively solid financial system and
sufficient foreign reserves," it said. "Our situation is not critical enough to
be the target of irresponsible ridicule (by the few foreign presses)."
Some foreign newspapers and wires including London's Financial Times have singled
out Korea as being particularly vulnerable to recent economic turmoil, drawing
objections from local experts.
South Korea's currency market has been jolted by a dollar shortage as banks and
companies rush to the safer greenback on concerns over the Wall Street financial
crisis.
While some predict that Asia's fourth-largest economy may face challenges similar
to those of 1997-98 financial meltdown, the government and ruling party have
called such concerns "exaggerated."
"Criticism based on facts, we can accept and think of them as constructive, but
please refrain from reporting baseless allegations," the ruling party said. "One
or two of such irresponsible reports may cause mistrust of the entire foreign
press."
"You know the saying that one rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel," it said.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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