SEOUL - SOUTH Korea's corporate bankruptcies hit a three-year high in October amid tightening financial conditions caused by the global financial crisis, the central bank said on Wednesday.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said the number of firms declaring bankruptcy rose from 203 in September to 321 in October, the highest monthly figure since March 2005.

'Poor economic conditions have caused firms trouble in securing funds', BOK official Park Jong Kyu told reporters.

In October the default rate on corporate bills - bonds, cheques and promissory notes ? grew to 0.03 per cent from 0.02 per cent a month earlier, the bank said.

The economy grew 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter in July to September, the slowest quarter-on-quarter growth in four years as households and smaller firms struggle with mounting debt and increasingly cut spending. -- AFP