South Korea's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon has asked a global credit rating agency to upgrade South Korea's rating to reflect its positive economic factors.
 
The Finance Ministry said Thursday that Kim made the call in a meeting with Fitch Ratings President Ian Linnell in London on Wednesday during his visit to the Fitch headquarters.

The minister said that Fitch has maintained its fourth-highest rating "AA-" for South Korea since September 2012, but the nation has seen a significant improvement in terms of its fiscal soundness and geopolitical risks.

Kim also stressed meaningful developments and progress in inter-Korean relations and in efforts for the North's denuclearization.

Fitch's rating for South Korea is one notch lower than the ratings of Moody's and Standard and Poor's.