Cynthia Kim and Eunkyung Seo
Bloomberg
Oct 31, 2012
Kang Man Soon wept on the day 15
years ago that she gave her gold wedding ring to the government,
joining the millions who donated heirlooms to boost South
Korea’s reserves during the Asian financial crisis.
“We just couldn’t let the country go bankrupt after all
the sacrifices and hard work to save it from Japanese colonial
rule and civil war,” said Kang, whose husband fulfilled a
promise to replace the gold band by giving her a one-carat
diamond ring this year for her 60th birthday. “The economy is
much bigger and stronger now and our cars and products and pop
songs are famous around the world.”
Since the 1997-1998 slump, South Korea has ridden economic
crises better than most advanced economies. The stock market has
risen fivefold, led by Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), which now makes
almost a quarter of the world’s mobile phones, and Hyundai Motor
Co. (005380) and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. (000270) are the most profitable
of the six biggest global automakers. With growth this year set
to beat Asia’s other wealthy nations, the three biggest credit
rating companies upgraded South Korea’s debt, citing the ability
to weather shocks better than its peers.
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