ROK government concerned over economic fallout of Yŏnpyŏng-do attack

Some may think this should be the last thing on their minds, but Seoul knows that Pyongyang knows that they can really burn South Korea economically whenever they engage in their shenanigans (not to make light of the death and mayhem North Korea just caused).

From Yonhap:

The government will hold a meeting of economic policymakers to monitor the economic fallout of North Korea's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, officials said Tuesday.

The finance ministry said the meeting, scheduled for Wednesday morning, will be attended by senior officials from the Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the central Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Korea Center for International Finance.

"The meeting will focus on the impact of the attack on the economy and the local financial markets, and what action must be taken," Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong said.

Other officials said that they are checking overseas reactions because news of the surprise attack took place after the local financial market closed for the day.

"The situation is being monitored closely to limit any repercussions, and a 24-hour emergency response team has been ordered to keep tabs on all economic indicators and to react quickly to sudden developments on a real-time basis," a ministry official said. Indicators such as credit default swaps and non-deliverable forwards are being reviewed.

The official said Seoul plans to check local financial conditions, export markets, raw material imports and prices of everyday commodities and foodstuffs.

Other reactions that will be monitored include those by overseas business partners and prospective investors, and the effect the latest incident could have on the country's sovereign rating.

Though not everyone agrees with me, of course, I think Seoul is just being prudent. After all, hurting South Korea economically may very well have been the purpose of this attack.