Taking flight

South Korea is one of a number of countries that has recently seen a substantial withdrawal of capital as worried investors take their money out.

The phenomenon, which is also affecting others nations including Hungary, Iceland and Pakistan, represents a new and worrying phase of the financial crisis according to the BBC's business editor Robert Peston.

He says that we are seeing a massive flight of capital out of economies perceived to have been living beyond their means - either because they have a substantial reliance on foreign borrowings or because they are net importers of good and services, or both.

(Reuters.com, BBC October 24, 2008)