Berkshire's Still Bullish on POSCO and Korea

Warren Buffett thinks Korea’s stock market is probably one of the most attractive in the world.

He said:

If you were going to buy indexes of the top 25 world markets you would have it in the top half of the class and likely much higher.

He also said he would buy more of the Korean steelmaker – POSCO (PKX) if the price was attractive.

Mr. Buffett said:

We certainly are comfortable investing in Korea, as evidenced by our Posco investment,” and additional investments in the country are “not inconceivable. We like the ethos of Korea for shareholders and we like the performance of the businesses.

He also said the Korean stock market got about as cheap as any stock market he’s seen in his lifetime, in the period a couple of years before Berkshire bought in.

Vice chairman Charlie Munger said:

I think POSCO is the best steel company in the world and I think number two is a significant step behind.

Berkshire Hathaway has reported it concluded 2007 with a $2.14-billion stake in POSCO, or 4.5%, and it paid only $572-million for the investment.

[Jeff Hull, a financial and investment advisor with Berkshire Securities Inc. (a subsidiary of Manulife Financial) is the Financial Post’s insider to Warren Buffett and his company’s AGM.]