South Korea's Minister of Finance Lee participates in the New Year's opening of the stock market in Seoul. South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hun-jae (C) participates in the New Year's opening of the stock market at the Korea Stock Exchange in Seoul January 3, 2005. South Korean shares opened flat on Monday, with hopes for a bullish 2005 lifting banking shares such as Kookmin Bank, while the strength of the won currency weighed on overall sentiment. REUTERS/You Sung-Ho