Central bank holds interest rate steady, but remains concerned about global economy

1. Mid of Governor of Bank of Korea, Kim Choong-soo, arriving at Monetary Policy meeting 2. Various of officials at meeting 3. Wide of meeting 4. Mid of Kim hitting gavel 5. Mid of officials 6. Various of Kim sat at desk 7. Pan across meeting participants 8. Mid of Kim arriving at news conference 9. Wide of news conference 10. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Kim Choong-soo, Governor of Bank of Korea: "Going forward, the Bank of Korea's monetary policy committee expects the pace of global economic recovery to be very moderate, and judges that risk factors still exist, stemming for instance from the persistence of the sovereign debt problems in Europe and the slumps in major country economies, and from geopolitical risks in the Middle East. Even if the national debt problems in Europe improve, we assume that the world economic growth will not be largely expanding due to a decrease in the government expenditure of advanced countries and by the effect of financial regulations." 11. Various of reporters 12. SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Kim Choong-soo, Governor of Bank of Korea: "The importance of the problem regarding Greece is that it is not just an issue of Greece, but it is about how the matter is being solved in a certain way. And as all of you know it is being reflected on the international finance market, which is showing an improvement in comparison to a couple of days ago." 13. Mid of reporters 14. Close-up of Kim speaking 15. Wide of Kim at podium STORYLINE: The Bank of Korea froze its monthly base interest rate on Thursday morning, concerned over an unstable inflation rate and the state of the world economy - including the eurozone debt crisis. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee held its monthly meeting to decide on the base interest rate for February. After the meeting, governor Kim Choong-soo met with reporters and said the committee decided to leave the base rate unchanged at 3.25 percent for the eighth month in-a-row. Kim said the committee considered some economic indicators in the US such as employment to have shown improvements, but economic activities in the euro area to have remained sluggish. "Going forward, the Bank of Korea's monetary policy committee expects the pace of global economic recovery to be very moderate, and judges that risk factors still exist, stemming for instance from the persistence of the sovereign debt problems in Europe and the slumps in major country economies, and from geopolitical risks in the Middle East," Kim told reporters at a news conference. "Even if the national debt problems in Europe improve, we assume that the world economic growth will not be largely expanding due to a decrease in the government expenditure of advanced countries and by the effect of financial regulations," he added. A crucial meeting between Greece's Prime Minister and debt inspectors on averting the country's bankruptcy ended in Athens Thursday morning with no definite results. Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the main point of contention - cuts in pensions - had not been resolved. At stake is a 130 (b) billion euro (172.56 (b) billion US dollar) bailout that is vital if Greece is to avoid bankruptcy as early as late March. "The importance of the problem regarding Greece is that it is not just an issue of Greece, but it is about how the matter is being solved in a certain way. And as all of you know it is being reflected on the international finance market, which is showing an improvement in comparison to a couple of days ago," Kim said. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2d7bd7dbc39a1ce4f998ab6aea39a08a Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork