Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) will buy about 5 trillion won ($4.38 billion) worth of bad loans from financial institutions and assets from companies under restructuring this year, local media said on Sunday.

The planned purchase amount is a third of KAMCO's purchases set for 2010 a year earlier.

South Korea's news agency Yonhap quoted KAMCO Chairman and Chief Executive Chang Young-chul as saying that KAMCO would buy 3.5 trillion won worth of bad loans from savings banks and one trillion won worth of bad loans from commercial banks.

KAMCO would also buy 500 billion won worth of assets from firms under restructuring, Yonhap said.

Chang did not specify how the planned purchases would be financed. KAMCO officials were not immediately available for comment.

($1=1,142 Won)

(Reporting by Cho Mee-young; Editing by Nick Macfie)

South Korea