South Korea seeks US help over debt rescheduling

The outgoing South Korean president, Kim Young Sam, has asked for help from the Clinton administration in persuading commercial banks to extend the country's massive short-term loans.

International bankers have agreed in principle to reschedule South Korea's debts, but the goverment in Seoul has been reluctant to guarantee the private sector debt, and negotiations have yet to be completed.

A South Korean delegation is due in New York next week to resume the talks.

President Kim's request for help was made to the visiting American deputy treasury secretary, Larry Summers, who said the country had made a good start on restoring economic confidence.

The BBC correspondent in Seoul says the stock market index has risen twenty-five per cent in recent days and the currency, the won, also appears to be stabilising.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service