South Korea's vice finance minister said on Wednesday that the U.S. subprime mortgage rout will have a limited impact on South Korean economy.

"A majority of experts agree that the U.S. subprime issue will not cause a financial system crisis or an economic recession," said Lim Young-rok, vice finance minister of the country, at a forum in Seoul.

"Direct impact from the U.S. subprime problem on South Korea will be limited because local financial institutions have low exposure to the subprime market," he said, adding that "Investor unrest could linger for some time in global financial markets since the default rate on the house-backed loans is unlikely to decline soon."

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday trimmed its benchmark rate by half a percentage point to 4.75 percent, a larger cut than analysts' expectations, in an effort to keep the housing market slump from derailing the economy.