Seoul seeks summit with Japan and China to stabilise market

Seoul: South Korea appealed on Monday for a summit with Japan and China on a global financial crisis that has starved its banks of dollars and accelerated the country's worst capital flight since Asian markets collapsed a decade ago. Japan and China have the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, with a combined $2.8 trillion (Dh10.3 trillion) stockpile, and with Seoul they have provided the firepower for a pact to guarantee Asian currency stability since capital fled the region in 1997-98. With the Korean won currency headed for its worst year since that crisis, Finance Minister Kang Man-soo urged Korean banks to sell foreign assets to raise dollars that other banks are now reluctant to lend them. He also promised to use Korea's currency reserves, the world's sixth largest at nearly $240 billion, to shield lenders from... [read full story]