South Korea's New President Good for ETF?

While concern mounts about South Korea's real estate sector, investors in its iShares exchange-traded fund (EWY) should welcome the country's newly elected president, Lee Myung-bak.

He advocates closer links to Washington and a tougher approach to Pyongyang. He is pledging a more welcoming environment for foreign investors by cutting red tape, clamping down on labor unions and accelerating bank privatization. Promoting economic growth is his top priority.

The Financial Times reports that Mr. Lee won over 50% of the vote in a field of 10 candidates, and this underlines the extent to which Koreans are looking for a shift in policy orientation after a decade of left-wing rule. During the campaign he pledged to create a “747” economy: 7 per cent annual growth; more than doubling annual per capita income to $40,000; and making Korea the world’s seventh-largest economy, up from 11th or 12th now.