Korea is home of the Hyundai and the Kia. It hopes to put a robot in each of its households by 2020. It boasts the world's first cloned dog.

So what does it want with our ailing assets on Wall Street?

A number of Korean entities have grabbed headlines in recent weeks as leaders at banks such as Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch travel the globe on a desperate hunt for cash.

Korea Development Bank, which was founded after the Korean War ended in 1954, has expressed interest in buying all or a part of Lehman Brothers. According to the Financial Times, the country's military pension fund has said it would be interested in joining K.D.B. in a Lehman investment.

A state-run distressed investment manager called Korea Asset Management is in talks with Merrill Lynch about taking some of its most troubled loans off its books, according to Bloomberg. So far, the two haven't been able to agree on pricing. Korea Investment Corporation, the country's sovereign wealth fund, owns a 7.4 percent stake in Merrill Lynch, going back for more in July after investing initially in January.

What does Korea see that the rest of the world doesn't? Perhaps Korea Asset Management's Lee Chol Hwi put it best in an interview with Bloomberg: "The U.S. market desperately needs capital. It's practically a buyer's market there."

That's right, folks. We're desperate. And Asian investors, who were the desperate ones just 10 years ago, are now regarded as our saviors.

Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Korea has cleaned itself up economically. It instituted government reforms and dismantled some of its corrupted conglomerates. Its economy has enjoyed robust growth in recent years, and its per capita G.D.P. is expected to surpass that of the United Kingdom, Germany, and France just five years after Korea hopes to have a robot in each household.

So Korea has clout—and money. But, so far, its interest in Lehman Brothers appears to be limited to a bit of hot air. The Korea Development Bank remains at the mercy of the country's financial regulators, who have expressed skepticism about a deal. Moreover, the bank isn't doing so well itself: Its net profit fell by half during the first half of this year, prompting the Korea Times to call it "old and reckless."

K.D.B.'s chief executive said the bank was considering forming a consortium of local commercial banks to buy Lehman, but the Korea Herald reports that local banks dismissed the idea. Even the Korean military pension fund, which indicated interest, has said that K.D.B. hasn't approached it about the deal.

As for Merrill, Bloomberg reports that Korea Asset Management and Merrill Lynch don't agree on the value of the bank's assets. Considering that Merrill just sold a bunch of loans to Lone Star Funds for the paltry price of 22 cents on the dollar, what kind of bargaining is Korea doing in these negotiations?

It appears that either Lehman's and Merrill's desperation hasn't hit levels low enough for Korea. Maybe Korea's real interest in buying Lehman amounts to little more than a tease.

As the weeks and months of this credit crisis unfold, Wall Street's desperation could intensify. But Seoul isn't likely to overtake New York anytime soon.