Rapid changes in the global financial environment resulting from the worldwide financial crisis are changing the landscape of financial centres around the world. Questions have been raised over the Western financial system model, while Asia emerges as a new financial force that could dominate financial markets with the leverage of its rapid economic growth and rich human resources. Seoul stands at the centre of the renewed attention on Asia.
Early this year, World Bank senior vice-president Justin Lin expressed the firm conviction that South Korea would recover fastest among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The high expectations were more than fulfilled when South Korea recorded the highest second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 2.3% among OECD members - after being one of the few to register positive GDP growth in the first quarter due to its strong economic fundamentals and crisis management know-how gained from overcoming the Asian financial crisis a decade earlier.
