A Tiger Resurgent?

By Lloyd Chrein Monday, Dec. 15, 1997
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The coffers are emptying fast in South Korea, and the country has begun appealing to its economic saviors - the U.S., Japan and the International Monetary Fund - to step up the pace of getting money into the country, reports Money Daily. The only problem is that Seoul may not get the dough; Tokyo and Washington aren't convinced the country needs an immediate infusion.

That didn't stop South Korean stocks from going through the roof Monday. Seoul's Korea Composite Stock Price index racked up its largest single-day percentage gain, jumping 25.98 points, or about 7 percent, to close at 385.80. Rallies on Saturday (yes, this is a market that trades on Saturday) and Monday more than undid Friday's plunge, when the Composite sank 7 percent to a 10-year low. What caused the turnaround? The catalyst seems to have been a series of statements over the weekend by South Korean leaders, who vowed to "fully implement the agreement reached with the IMF" - even as students marched in Seoul to protest the "humiliating" bailout.