By Kim Eun-young and Yoon Sojung

The international credit rating agency Fitch said on June 22 that it will maintain its sovereign rating of Korea at AA- with an outlook of “stable.”

Fitch has been grading Korea’s credit rating as AA- for six years now, since September 2012, when it first upgraded the country’s rating. AA- is the fourth highest among the total of 21 possible ratings.

Fitch said that geopolitical tension on the Korean Peninsula has eased thanks to the latest Inter-Korean Summit and the North Korea-U.S. Singapore summit.

It also said that North Korea’s declaration of planned denuclearization lowered the danger of possible military conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

Fitch noted that, however, there is still a high possibility that the implementation of the denuclearization declaration could be halted. It also said that geopolitical factors involving Korea, such as the relationship with neighboring countries, including China and Japan, could be considered as burdens.

eykim86@korea.kr