South Korea is attractive says US billionaire investor

US billionaire, Warren Buffett, said Korea’s stock market is probably one of the most attractive in the world.

The Chairman of the Berkshire Hathaway investment group said if you were going to buy indexes of the top 25 world markets you would have to have it in the top half of the class and likely much higher.

Asked what he would invest a million dollars in, he answered, I could find better things to do with a million dollars probably in Korea than I could probably find in the US market.

Mr Buffett noted that the stock market was about as cheap as any he had witnessed in his lifetime, in the period a couple of years before he bought in.

In the last year, the market in Korea has grown by 11%, and over the last 3 years, by a huge 91%.

South Korea is one of the most developed emerging markets and is the twelfth largest economy in the world and the third largest in Asia.

The main industries in South Korea are automobiles, electronics and steel.

Earlier this week, it was highlighted that Mr Buffett was a possible buyer of the insurance arm of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

Speaking at the annual meeting of his Berkshire Hathaway investment group over the weekend, Mr Buffett said that his business was close to buying a medium-sized British company and would look at the possible sale of RBS’s insurance unit.

However, if Mr Buffett tries to buy the business, he would be competing with other bidders. Italian insurer, Generali SpA, expressed an interest last week.

Mr Buffett is often referred to as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’. He is ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world. Last year, he was listed among Time’s 100 Most Influential People in The World.

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