KOREAN NET

The international credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's on April 15 kept Korea's sovereign rating at "AA" with a stable outlook. (Seoul Tourism Organization)

By Park Hye Ri

The global credit ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) on April 15 said it maintained Korea's sovereign rating at "AA" with a stable outlook.

The Ministry of Finance and Strategy quoted S&P as saying, "The deterioration in international trading conditions will drag on growth in Korea. Nevertheless, the strong international competitiveness of the country's key exporters will keep external metrics strong."

"We (S&P) expect real GDP growth in Korea to remain higher than most other high-income economies."

Calling the country's institutions and policy environment "key credit supports," the agency said, "The unexpected declaration of martial law in the country early in December 2024 hurt confidence in political stability, in our view. Nevertheless, we view the swift reversal of the declaration and the manner in which political institutions reacted as mitigating the extent of the damage."

Predicting per capita GDP to grow around 2% per year from this year through 2028, the New York-based service said, "We expect Korea's per capita GDP to rise to nearly US$41,000 in 2028."

S&P's sovereign credit rating for Korea has stayed at "AA" after being upgraded in August 2016 from "AA-." In February this year, Fitch kept the nation's sovereign rating at "AA-" with a stable outlook.

hrhr@korea.kr