The plunge in the Kopsi stocks index and the slide of the won have been caused by unfounded concerns, according to the chief economic adviser to South Korea's president.

Sakong Il, who represented Lee Myung-Bak at the World Policy Conference in Evian, France, last week, told the Financial Times: "The Korean government needs to calm the rootless fears in the markets." Seoul, he said, "should keep the transparency in all of the facts, particularly the statistics - and show the people the [foreign] reserve situation: what are the main macroeconomic figures? We must talk openly about short-term debts, assets that we have and how many reserves we have in terms of current payments."