S. KOREAN BANKS INCREASE DEBT WRITEOFFS SHARPLY.

AsiaPulse News, November, 2004

SEOUL, Nov 16 Asia Pulse - South Korean banks, which are on course for record profits this year, are ramping up efforts to dispose of bad loans to make their balance sheets cleaner, bank sources said Tuesday.

The move is seen as a precaution against a possible increase in problem assets next year, which may arise from the economy's prolonged slump.

Domestic lenders, which earned 3.6 trillion won (US$3.3 billion) in the first half of this year, compared with 733.5 billion won a year ago, are on pace to log a record bottom line for the full year.

According to the sources, Woori Bank, the nation's second-largest lender, wrote off 918 billion won in dud loans in the January-September period, up 56.2 per cent on an annual basis.

During the...