SEOUL -?The economic fundamentals of the Republic of Korea (ROK) were not to be changed by the death of Kim Jong-il, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a senior official at Moody's said Monday.

"We will continue to rate ROK on the basis of its economic, institutional and government financial fundamentals. These will not change on account of the death of DPRK's leader Kim Jong-il," Thomas Byrne, a senior vice president at Moody's in Singapore, said in an e-mail interview.

Byrne said that the potential risks such as a collapse of the DPRK or an outbreak of war between the two Koreas seemed to be remote even under the current uncertainty about the leadership transition in Pyongyang.

He also noted that the recent signing into law of the US-Korea free trade agreement would reinforce economic ties between the two countries.

Moody's assigned the sovereign credit rating for South Korea at A1 with stable outlook.