Look to Sell South Korea and Favour Southeast Asia

By Krishna Kumar SYDNEY, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Investors have quickly come around to see the sell-off in South Korean markets after the North's attack as a buying opportunity, but beware of profit-taking in Asian markets heading into year-end. Fears of aggressive Chinese monetary tightening, Ireland's need for a debt bailout and the uncertainty around the Federal Reserve's second round of quantitative easing had already morphed into a sharp round of risk reduction. While Asian stocks and currencies have proved remarkably resilient, the latest confrontation on the Korean peninsula may be just the catalyst for an unwind of profitable positions.  Asia ex-Japan markets have enjoyed stellar gains for the year, and prudent investors may start locking in profits if they have not done so already. Of course investors who still wish to embrace the Asian growth story can also consider shifting from the Korean markets to Southeast Asia and India -- and South Korea provides no shortage of reasons for doing so. Conflict in Korea on...