New York Times: South Korea moves to rescue its 9 credit card companies

Don Kirk reports on the efforts now underway to rescue the Korean credit card companies from bankruptcy.

With more than $10 billion in debts falling due over the next three months, however, officials believed they had no choice but to compel banks, insurance companies and securities firms to join in the program for guaranteeing the viability of bonds issued by the credit card companies. They are to step into the breach created by the inability of investment trust companies to trade credit card company bonds after it was learned that SK Global, the trading arm of the SK Group, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate, covered up $1.2 billion in debt.