Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom briefed US investors and officials from credit rating firms in New York on South Korea’s economic situation and government policies, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday.

Kim first met with 25 investors from New York-based investment banks and asset managers, including Blackrock, Morgan Stanley and UBS, in a meeting held Wednesday (US time).

The vice finance minister explained that while Korea’s major indexes and chip prices have shown signs of recovery, the spread of the coronavirus has weighed on the market as a new risk factor.

Though it was too early to quantify the effects of the outbreak, the government is preparing comprehensive measures to minimize the impact on the economy, Kim added.

The investors had questions about progress in negotiations between Korea and Japan on Tokyo’s export restrictions of key materials needed for chip and display manufacturing, protection of intellectual property rights here and projections on the semiconductor market.

Kim later briefed officials at credit rating agency Standard & Poors, in a separate meeting. Roberto Sifon Arevalo, global head of sovereign analytics and research at the agency, was among officials present at the meeting.

The officials also had questions about Japan’s export curbs, the effects of the coronavirus on the Korean economy and updates on North Korea issues, according to the Finance Ministry.

The ministry, however, did not provide details on the answers it gave to investors and credit raters.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)