The pressure is on. No. 8 stock brokerage Coryo Securities went bust Dec. 5. Construction and shipbuilding group Halla fell the next day. Halla had asked for help from Hyundai, whose founder Chung Ju Yung is the elder brother of Halla CEO Chung In Yung. Besides, Hyundai has troubles of its own.
Local banks are edgy.
They were the main creditors of eight conglomerates that have gone under so far this year. Almost half of the country's 30 merchant banks have been suspended. Five were temporarily closed Dec. 10, joining nine others shut down earlier. The financial markets seem on the brink of collapse. The Korea Stock Exchange index also fell steeply.