Kim Kyong Lim, chief executive of Korea Exchange Bank, the main lender to Hyundai, argues that this should be no problem, since the bank's sub-standard loans stood at less than 18% of its portfolio at the end of June.

ECONOMIST: South Korea dumps the past, at last

As The Economist went to press that was the choice facing HSBC, whose dogged pursuit of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) has become a litmus test of South Korean attitudes to foreign investment.

ECONOMIST: HSBC��s difficult decision over Korea Exchange Bank