Their success at Korea Exchange Bank may be an ominous precedent.

ECONOMIST: South Korean banks: Silver lining | The

There are big plans for Russia, sub-Saharan Africa and South Korea, where HSBC is waiting for regulators to approve its 51% stake purchase in Korea Exchange Bank from Lone Star.

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As The Economist went to press that was the choice facing HSBC, whose dogged pursuit of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) has become a litmus test of South Korean attitudes to foreign investment.

ECONOMIST: HSBC��s difficult decision over Korea Exchange Bank

Kim Kyong Lim, chief executive of Korea Exchange Bank, the main lender to Hyundai, argues that this should be no problem, since the bank's sub-standard loans stood at less than 18% of its portfolio at the end of June.

ECONOMIST: South Korea dumps the past, at last

As its own free-trade agreement with the U.S. grows less likely, with Seoul's ruling party willing to accommodate Kim Jong-il before George Bush, the country's prosecutors keep after private equity outfit Lone Star of the U.S. for its flipping of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB).

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The Bank of China's suspension of business further complicates the ability of the Foreign Trade Bank, North Korea's main foreign exchange bank, to access a key financial market.

NPR: Bank Of China Cuts Off North Korea Trade Bank

In response to overseas media reports that the Bank of China has closed the account of North Korea's main foreign exchange bank, Shi Yinhong, an international affairs expert at Beijing's Renmin University tells Hong Kong's South China Morning Post that Beijing is losing patience with Pyongyang.

BBC: China media: Cyber espionage

The US imposed sanctions on North Korea's main foreign exchange bank after the recent nuclear tests and had urged other countries, including China, to cut ties with the bank.

BBC: N Korea 'removes' missiles from east coast launch site

The U.S. Treasury Department announced it had put sanctions on North Korea's primary foreign-exchange bank in response to Pyongyang's nuclear test last month.

WSJ: Pressure Rises on Korean Peninsula