Global money is leaving Korea

Carrying out the restructuring work in emerging markets in Asia, British investment bank Barclays has decided to withdraw its headquarters in Seoul after 39 years of business. As foreign investors are selling their stocks for 34 trading days in a row, there are mounting concerns that the "exodus" of global investors from the emerging markets has come into a full-swing. The Korean government is expected to face a disruption in its plan to build a financial hub in the Northeast Asia.

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday (local time) that Barclays has decided to close its branch in Korea, India and Taiwan as it has carried out the restructuring for cost reduction. With the decision, Barclays Capital International Office in Seoul, which opened its office in 1977, is now taking follow-up actions such as sending out the notification that says, "Barclays plans to pull out of the Korean market in accordance with the direction of its headquarter in London."

Experts reckon that the outflow of "oil money" of financially-thirsty nations such as Saudi Arabia suffering from low oil prices is leading the exodus of foreign money from Korean stock market. On top of that, foreign investors continue to sell their shares as Investors of China who has suffered bad economy and European investors whose attention has been directed to advanced market, experts analyzed.

The report by Institute of International Finance says that nearly 900 trillion Korean won (approx. 741 billion U.S. dollars) flew out last year from emerging countries including Korea and the trend is expected to continue this year.

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