SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Heungkuk Life Insurance has decided to exercise a call option on its perpetual notes due on Wednesday, reversing its earlier move to delay the redemption, it said in a notice on its website on Tuesday.
The medium-sized life insurer’s decision last month not to pay back the $500 million bond on its first call option date of Nov. 9 had raised concerns among investors toward debt securities issued by South Korean companies.
The company said its latest decision was to “clear a confusion in markets caused by the recent announcement of a delay in redemption”, adding its parent, Taekwang Group, has also agreed to help it pay back the debt by providing help.
(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Chris Reese and Lincoln Feast)
