NEW YORK-Moody’s Investors Service placed the ratings of the Republic of Korea and the publicly held foreign currency debt of its major companies under review for possible downgrade.
Telecommunications carriers and electronics component and equipment manufacturers account for four of the 11 corporations whose long-term bonds and/or short-term notes the rating agency is examining. The outstanding debt issues under review now have speculative grade ratings of Ba1, just a notch below investment grade, and include the following companies:
Korea Telecom, the dominant provider of telecommunications services in South Korea and majority owned by the federal government.
SK Telecom Co. Ltd., a dominant wireless telecommunications services provider in South Korea.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading semiconductor manufacturer, and Samsung Electronics America Inc., which has sold separate debt issues.
Hyundai Semiconductor America Inc., owned by Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. Ltd., which is a member of the Hyundai Group.
A currency crisis is affecting South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
