1.   Allowing foreign ownership of Korean banks is another IMF condition.

2.   Allowing greater foreign ownership of Korean banks is in the cards.

3.   As interest rates rise, the cost of money to Korean banks and companies becomes ever steeper -- if they can borrow at all.

4.   At the same time Korean banks, struggling to repay billions of dollar of foreign debt, often refused to lend more money to troubled companies.

5.   Bankers have said loans will make up the bulk of new cash raised to help Korean banks avoid default.

6.   Banks from the U.S., Japan and Europe met with a Korean delegation at Citicorp headquarters to discuss ways to restructure short-term debt owed by Korean banks and companies.

7.   A spate of bankruptcies earlier this year left Korean banks with billions of dollars worth of bad loans.

8.   All these loans must eventually be refinanced, meaning Korean banks and companies will need to prove they can raise foreign exchange off their own bat.

9.   By some measures, Korean banks are at the bottom of the pile.

10.   Even with the limits on foreign investment in the financial sector soon to be eased, there may not be many takers for capital-starved Korean banks.