*  *  *  Opening remarks Ladies and gentlemen, Let me extend a hearty welcome to all central bankers gathered from around the world to take part in the Bank of Korea's "Central Banking Seminar". I would also like to give my special thanks to our keynote speaker Dr. Mario Blejer, Director of the Centre for Central Banking Studies, Bank of England.
This seminar, now in its 14th year, provides a forum for debate on major monetary policy issues and for identifying ways to deal with them. The theme for this year's seminar, "Globalization and Its Implications for Monetary Policy", has of course been discussed many times before now. However, I believe this is an issue that merits central banks' continuing close interest.