Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service said Thursday that it has retained its sovereign credit rating on South Korea at “Aa3.”

“Korea has a strong external position, supported by its competitive export industries and large holdings of official foreign exchange reserves that reduce the economy’s vulnerability to external shocks,” Moody’s said in a release. “The rating reflects the country’s very high economic strength ... but moderate susceptibility to event risk from North Korea military provocation or regime instability.”

The global credit appraiser has kept its current rating on Korea at “Aa3,” its fourth-highest rating level, since August 2012.

Moody’s said that it kept its outlook for Korea at “stable” given the gradual slowdown of China’s growth and the ongoing recovery of the U.S. economy, as well as the stable global liquidity, despite expectations for a U.S. interest rate hike in mid-2015. (Yonhap)