In our view, Korea will maintain economic growth performance superior to most developed economies in the next three to five years. The risks of a marked deterioration in external financing conditions have become more remote due to the decline in external debt owed by Korean banks and the reduced weight of short-term borrowings in total external debt. We are raising our foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on Korea to 'AA-/A-1+' from 'A+/A-1'. At the same time, we are affirming our local currency ratings at 'AA-/A-1+'. The stable outlook on the long-term foreign and local currency ratings reflects our expectation that Korea will see broadly unchanged credit metrics over the next two years. On Sept. 15, 2015, Standard&Poor's Ratings
