President Lee Myung-bak has instructed the Finance Ministry to notify foreign investors of Korean financial markets’ capability to weather the European debt crisis, government officials said Thursday.

Lee called for officials to carry out the mission by holding press conferences for foreign media during his visit to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Wednesday.

“Aside from informing local media of the authorities’ countermeasures, the President said it is important to hold briefings for the foreign media,” said a director general of the finance ministry.

Under Lee’s instruction, the ministry held a foreign media-oriented news conference in coordination with senior officials from the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Bank of Korea in downtown Seoul the same day.

Earlier in the day, FSS Gov. Kwon Hyouk-se held a lunch briefing with the media including Dow Jones, Bloomberg and the Financial Times.

Over the past week, the chief financial regulator has taken the initiative in promoting the soundness of the nation’s financial companies, which could have enhanced tolerance to external shocks.

Several high-ranking financial regulators have downplayed recent arguments by several foreign research analysts that Korean banks may be especially vulnerable to Europe’s fiscal woes.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)