On the non-operating side, the rapid depreciation of the Korean won against the US dollar in September resulted in foreign exchange-related losses of around 420 billion won due to translation of foreign currency- denominated assetsandliabilities.
The foreign debts represent only 6% of total bank assetsand the effect on these liabilities is mitigated by the dollar assets banks create with this funding through export-credit financing.
Problems may be worse for smaller companies and the subsidiaries of foreign firms, where pension funds usually have a lower ratio of assets to liabilities, says Stephen Yeo of Watson Wyatt.