SEOUL, KOREA - The South Korean government sees that North Korea's third attempt to carry out a nuclear test would have minimal effects on the south's economy. Minister of Strategy and Finance Park Jae-won said this in an emergency executive meeting held in the Sejong City government complex on February 12.

He said, "The economic effects of North Korea's nuclear test would be limited. It is highly unlikely the test would affect our sovereign credit rating." "We will do our best to keep the uneasiness in the market to a minimum. Especially given it's a transition time, we will make sure everything is in order," he added.

 

Following the executive-level meeting, Vice Finance Minister Shin Je-yoon held an emergency market monitoring meeting and said, "Even though North Korea provoked us again despite strong opposition of the international community, they can't affect our economy's fundamentals any longer." "The only remaining concern would be a further mounting geopolitical risk as the incident develops into an international tug-of-war."