S Korea's debt restructuring agency buys bad assets from savings banks

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

SEOUL, March 18 (Chinese media) -- South Korea's state-run debt restructuring agency said Wednesday that it made a purchase deal on local savings banks' bad assets worth 1.24 trillion won (875 million U.S. dollars).

With the current purchase deal, the Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) has thus far bought 1.74 trillion won, or 1.23 billion U.S. dollars, worth of property-related loans from local mutual savings banks, the agency said.

It also plans to buy out bad assets from commercial lenders, which have been suffering from a surge in bad loans amid a severe economic slump.

The South Korean government is set to launch a restructuring fund worth 40 trillion won (28.2 billion U.S. dollars) to clear out bad assets from local financial companies.