In 2026, the year it marks its 50th anniversary, the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) put forward a plan to move the center of its guarantee supply toward artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced industries. Under the announcement of May 14, it will supply 20 trillion won in new guarantees to these fields over the next five years. How the 20 trillion won will be divided across the years, and whether it is funding shifted within the existing total guarantee volume, were not presented.
The support mechanism for advanced industries originates in the "AI Advanced Industry Special Guarantee" created this February. KODIT held a meeting with local journalists at its head office in Dong-gu, Daegu, on May 13 and set out four axes, "P·I·P·E," bringing together productive finance, inclusive finance, user-centered financial services and sustainable, climate-response finance, as its operating direction. It is a design meant to hold the fostering of advanced industries and the safety net for small and medium-sized enterprises in one frame.
Figures on the safety net side moved as well. In the 2026 supplementary budget it secured 50 billion won in government contributions and raised the crisis-response supply from 3 trillion won to 4.25 trillion won. This account is being used to support companies hurt by the situation in the Middle East. Companies selected under the regional core company program receive a guarantee limit of up to 20 billion won and a preferential fixed guarantee fee rate of 0.5%.
Its outward activity was shown at the international forum for the 50th anniversary held on the 15th. The venue was The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, and KODIT disclosed the contents of the event today. Two sessions were arranged under the theme "The Future of SME Finance: The Path of Innovation and Inclusion."
Attendance was counted at about 120 people from policy finance institutions at home and abroad and from academia. Kwon Dae-young, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and Bambang Brodjonegoro, dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), were on the list, and officials from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank (WB) and the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM) took part as well. Kuo Yu-hsin, president of Taiwan's Small and Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Fund, and Mohamed Nazri Omar, president of Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia, were also on the list of attendees. The later session was filled with a presentation and discussion of research on support measures for digital transformation and green finance carried out jointly by KODIT and ADBI.
At the 50th anniversary exhibition hall set up at the venue, a history of economic crises and startup support records were introduced. An international cooperation network, a demonstration of the AI-based corporate analysis system (BASA) and a data finance strategy were placed alongside them. On the funding side, the push for direct issuance of P-CBOs and the introduction of future receivables factoring, and in the overseas segment, special guarantees for export market diversification and guarantees for companies expanding abroad, are in operation or at the preparation stage. Green finance, including guarantees for offshore wind power projects, was also included in the plan.
When guarantees for advanced industries increase, the key point is the entry threshold in guarantee screening. The larger the weight of technology assessment, the more it decides whether companies with short operating histories or thin collateral and revenue bases pass, and conversely room opens for the share allocated to traditional manufacturing and service sectors to shrink. The year-by-year plan for the 20 trillion won and the management plan for subrogation payments that comes with the expansion into advanced industries have not been settled. How the four P·I·P·E axes presented by Chairman Kang Seung-jun handle this balance becomes the test at the implementation stage.
The next date is June 1. "Kredium," an education and publicity hall built on the first floor of the Daegu head office, opens that day. The record of 50 years will be opened to the public in a space arranged into four zones including a history hall, a publicity hall, a screening hall and a café-style cultural space.
