According to Yonhap News,

Common conversation topics help investment meetings go smoothly

(NEW YORK = Yonhap News) Korean pop (K-pop) and television dramas are making significant contributions to the nation’s foreign investment attraction efforts, reported the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Dec. 10.

Korean bond issuers now have two conversation topics that are guaranteed to attract the attention of foreign investors, according to the WSJ’s Korea Real Time, a blog that offers information and analysis on Korea. The article also states that K-pop and Korean dramas help break the ice in negotiation tables.

While it is difficult to evaluate the impact of the popular culture products of Korea on bond yields, the WSJ quoted the director of global capital markets at Bank of America (BOA) Merrill Lynch, the worldwide popularity of K-pop has made the task of attracting foreign investors easier.

According to BoA Merrill Lynch, Korean companies sold USD 29.3 billion through 167 issuances this year, which is down from USD 35 billion and 175 issuances last year.

However, Korean bonds account for the majority (27 percent) of the Asia ex-Japan bonds maturing next year, followed by China’s 15 percent and the Philippines’ 13 percent.