Fitch upgrades Korea

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded the long-term foreign currency rating of the Republic of Korea to A+ from A and its long-term local currency rating to AA from AA- and removed both from Rating Watch positive where they were placed on Sept. 19.

At the same time, the agency upgraded the foreign currency country ceiling to AA- and affirmed the short-term rating at F1.

The outlook is stable.

Fitch said the upgrade is based on Fitch's assessment that North Korea's agreement in September to abandon its nuclear weapons program has reduced security risks across the Korean Peninsula.

"South Korea's ratings have been constrained by concerns about threats posed by a nuclear-armed North," said James McCormack, head of Asia Sovereigns at Fitch. "These concerns have not been alleviated in full, but the risks have diminished with the focus of the six-party negotiations now shifting from whether North Korea would abandon its weapons program to how and when the program will be abandoned."

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