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Korea remains in the crosshairs of the U.K.¡¯s Financial Times, this time over Hite Brewery¡¯s acquisition of leading soju maker Jinro. The business daily earlier slammed the country as "schizophrenic" and "nationalistic" in reports on Korean financial regulations and caps on foreign directors in local banks.
In an article headed ¡°South Korea feels draught as doors open,¡± the FT said Monday, ¡°When thirsty bidders were lining up for Jinro last month, there was a widely held view that South Korea would not allow its iconic soju liquor maker to fall into foreign hands. Foreign investors are becoming increasingly concerned" about Korea¡¯s widespread anti-foreigner sentiment.
¡°Such nationalist sentiment is not limited to the Korean love of soju," the paper insists. Korean "financial authorities, fuelled by popular outrage at the profits that foreign funds (like Carlyle and Newbridge) in particular have been making, are trying to make life harder for foreign investors.¡±
Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Labor Party and a civilian watchdog against speculative funds co-hosted a forum on foreign investment regulations in the National Assembly building Monday. In the debate, Samsung Economic Research Institute senior researcher Kim Yong-ki emphasized the need to limit foreign investment, pointing out a loophole in the Bank Law that allows paper companies to be major stockholders.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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