The Finance Ministry said that global rating agencies will maintain their stable sovereign rating outlooks for South Korea despite North Korea’s launch of a long-range missile and the shutdown of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
 
The ministry said on Tuesday that Moody’s Investor Service believed actual clashes between the two Koreas are unlikely to happen, while Fitch Ratings called the recent confrontation a repeat of past events.
 
Standard and Poor’s reportedly projected that geopolitical risks from the recent crisis will have a limited impact on the South Korean economy, as they are already reflected in the South’s sovereign credit rating.
 
In December last year, Moody's upgraded South Korea’s credit rating to Aa2, South Korea’s highest-ever rating received from an international credit appraiser. Fitch and Standard and Poor’s are maintaining the South’s sovereign rating at AA-.
 
The ministry presented the official positions of the global rating agencies to assure investors amid speculation that increasing geopolitical risks will negatively affect Seoul’s credit rating.