Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Park Sang-jin said a 250 trillion won, five-year investment program has been launched in line with the government's production finance initiative. He also announced details on financial support for restructuring the petrochemical complex in the Daesan industrial complex.
On the 25th, Park presented KDB's key tasks and pending issues at his first press briefing since taking office, held at Korea Development Bank (KDB) in Yeouido, Seoul. Park said the bank has launched the "KDB Next Korea" program, under which it will invest a total of 250 trillion won over five years.
KDB Next Korea will invest 100 trillion won to strengthen competitiveness in advanced strategic industries, 75 trillion won to expand regional finance for balanced national growth, 50 trillion won to guide industrial balance in support of key industries, and 25 trillion won for loans and investments linked to the Public Growth Fund. It will also minimize overlaps with the Public Growth Fund to maximize complementary synergy.
Along with this, Park said, "After the Shin'an Ui offshore wind power project, which was approved on Jan., the first project of the Public Growth Fund, the second and third reviews will be conducted soon," adding, "To ensure that no regional corporations are left out due to information bidding gaps, we will hold regional Public Growth Fund briefings in March–April."
He went on, "Until now, Korea Development Bank (KDB)'s direct investments have focused on new venture corporations, but going forward we will expand follow-on investments to strengthen stage-by-stage support for corporations' growth," adding, "We will create a scale-up fund to foster unicorn corporations and a fund to activate the exit market for a virtuous cycle of venture capital, leading the revitalization of the indirect investment ecosystem."
Details of the financial support for the Daesan industrial complex decided that day were also announced. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources announced in the morning a support package related to restructuring the Daesan business sites of HD Hyundai Chemical and Lotte Chemical. HD Hyundai and Lotte Chemical will each inject 600 billion won to improve finances, and the government will provide more than 2.1 trillion won in total support, including financial assistance.
Financial institutions will provide up to 1 trillion won in new funds so that the integrated HD Hyundai Chemical can carry out restructuring-related investments such as shifting to high-value specialty products. Of this, Korea Development Bank (KDB) will exclusively handle about 430 billion won needed for facility investment and research and development for business structure conversion. They are also pursuing a plan to convert the creditors' borrowing fund into perpetual bonds within the maximum range of 1 trillion won.
Park said, "Because this is an issue that other financial institutions may find burdensome, we plan to persuade the creditors by significantly raising Korea Development Bank (KDB)'s share of the new funding burden to around 400 billion won," adding, "If other creditor financial firms insist only on their own positions, there is no option but to encourage them." He added that the specifics regarding the perpetual bond burden for the Daesan complex have not yet been decided.
On the sale of HMM and KDB Life Insurance, he said it is "not yet proceeding in concrete terms." Park said, "For HMM, the transfer to Busan is the most pressing prerequisite before a sale," adding, "I understand that a sale roadmap will be drafted and completed before early March, when the shareholders meeting is held." Regarding KDB Life Insurance, he said, "Normalization rather than a sale is the priority," adding, "We are bringing in a professional manager from outside and focusing on management normalization efforts such as securing sales channels."