The signing ceremony will take place in New York at NASDAQ's corporate headquarters in downtown Manhattan.

NASDAQ and KRX have established a cooperative arrangement that will provide an ongoing exchange of information between the two markets. This will be for the benefit of the U.S. and Korean financial services industries. The cooperation will help to assist in the maintenance of orderly markets in securities in each country.

Bob Greifeld, President and CEO of The NASDAQ Stock Market, said, ``NASDAQ welcomes this new partnership with KRX and looks forward to working with the Exchange as the Korean capital markets evolve. In addition to being home to some of the world's best known brands, South Korea is one of the largest and fastest growing economies in Asia. NASDAQ is proud to be working closely with the Korea Exchange as it becomes increasingly global.''

Young-Tak Lee, Chairman and CEO of the KRX, said, ``KRX is pleased to have agreed to cooperate and communicate with NASDAQ in a more formal way. We highly value the relationship with NASDAQ, which is the one of the leading stock markets in the world. I hope we look for various channels of collaboration such as joint research and joint marketing so that we grow together.''

NASDAQ currently lists 7 Korean companies, and these companies' combined global market capitalization is approximately US$3.19 billion.