Mr Shin Je Yoon, Deputy Minister for International Affairs at the South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance, said the talks were 'fairly low-level' with no plans for further talks yet.

He is here as part of a roadshow to promote the instruments.

GIC already has investments in South Korea's real estate and banking sector, Mr Shin said, and has 'made a lot of profit' from its investments.

GIC declined to comment when contacted by The Straits Times.

Mr Shin also said the 4 per cent interest rate in South Korea is high compared to other countries. But he did not want to comment on speculation of further rate cuts, because he wanted to respect the independence of the Bank of Korea.

He said the actions by the central bank so far have been successful, though he added that because there are some time lags between the implementation of policies and when they take effect, it is too early to evaluate them.

Mr Shin was speaking to reporters after a meeting with international financial firms here to promote won-denominated treasury bonds and to assure investors of the health of South Korea's economy.

He said there is 'no possibility for the re-emergence of a financial crisis like in 1997', and that he believes the worst of the crisis for the South Korean economy is over, with the focus now on boosting domestic demand.

He said that even under the worst-case scenario, South Korea would not seek funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through its short-term liquidity facility.

'People are asking me to make use of this facility, but I said no, because IMF, the name itself, is not good for market sentiment. Also, we have sufficient ability to overcome (this crisis).

'We have a very good fiscal position, we have much room to lower interest rates...(and) we have huge foreign reserves. So why would we have to take actions like going to the IMF?'