K-sure, Provides U$1.5 Billion in Support for Hyundai Motor Group and SK On’s Joint Battery Production Facility in U.S.

Korea Trade Insurance Corp. (K-sure) said on April 2 K-sure agreed to offer a $1.5 billion (some 2.2 trillion won) export loan to Hyundai Motor Group and SK On’s joint project to build a battery production plant in Georgia, the United States.

The project is implemented in a joint-venture by Hyundai Motor Group and SK On to build the EV-battery value chains in the United States.

If and when it is dedicated, the battery plant will have a capacity of 35GWh, supplying batteries enough to power 300,00 EV units to Hyundai Motor Group’s EV plant in Georgia and others.

The latest financial support is evaluated to greatly contribute to Korean companies’ efforts to ramp up EV value chains in North America amid rising significance of localized production systems designed to cope with President Trump’s administration’s tariff policies.

K-sure had already provided a combined $2.3 billion in export finance to Hyundai Motor’s construction of EVs and parts plants in the United States as part of efforts to build the value chains encompassing EV upstream and downstream industry segments.

K-sure President Jang Young-jin said, “K-sure will offer full support so that our companies can transfer a crisis, caused by trade order changes, into an opportunity, like a help in the building of overseas localized production systems from now on”

K-sure President Jang Young-jin poses with President Lee Ho-sung of Hana Bank after they struck an MOU at Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Jan. 16. (Photos: K-sure)

K-Sure and Hana Bank Offering 510BWon in Preferential Financing to SME Exporters

Korea Trade Insurance Corp. (K-sure) and Hana Bank struck an MOU on the provision of preferential financing for second export packages to SME and middle market exporters to enhance liquidity support.

The pact was signed at Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Jan. 16.

In connection with the agreement, Hana Bank initially contributed 40 billion won — 30 billion won in special contribution and 10 billion won in guarantee and insurance fee support last year under the provision of the preferential financing of export packages, a step implemented by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The bank contributed 30 billion in the latest, additional preferential financing.

The preferential financing of export packages was implemented in 2024 for the first time in accordance with the government’s strategies to boost export in a short-term perspective in November 2023.

The provision of the preferential financing of export packages is designed to ease financial difficulties for SME exporters facing worsening export conditions, such as recent currency exchange rate hikes and the declining economy.

It is a new form of collaboration among the public and private sectors, a combination of the commercial bank’s fund contribution and K-sure’s preferential provision of trade insurance and guarantee.

K-sure offers benefits to companies recommended by the bank: redoubling support cap, raising guarantee rate from 90 percent to 95 percent, and giving a 20 percent discount to guarantee and insurance premiums.

In return, Hana Bank provides incentives, such as lowering loan interest rates and giving preferential treatment of foreign currency commissions.

The step allows exporters to use borrowings with a higher cap and lower interest rate than the conventional trade financing, thus easing their financial burden.

The two organizations plan to offer some 510 billion won in preferential financing to SMEs and middle-market exporters based on the second, additional contribution of 30 billion won.

As the scope of beneficiaries and export credit guarantee categories expands, the step to support the liquidity of SMEs is expected to be reinforced.

Meanwhile, K-sure operates preferential financial programs for export packages with a combed seven commercial banks, including Hana Bank.

Some 1,400 companies have been offered approximately 1 trillion won under preferential financial programs for export packages since the first introduction of the scheme in March 2024.

K-sure President Jang Young-jin said, “Hana Bank’s latest, second additional fund contribution is expected to give a practical leg-up to SME and middle market exporters grappling with worsening management conditions, such as continuous foreign currency hikes, leading to easing of their financial burden.”

“Moving forward, K-sure will do its best to ease our companies’ financial burden by expanding cooperation with financial institutions,” President Jang added.

President Jang Young-jin of Korea Trade Insurance Corp. pose for a photo session with Chmn. Won Jae-chul of the Korea International Freight Forwarders Association (KIFFA) after they signed an MOU to ramp up the global competition of forwarders at K-sure headquarters in Seoul on March 4.

K-sure Teams Up with KIFFA to Redeem Outstanding Receivables of Korean Forwarders

Korea Trade Insurance Corp. signed an MOU with the Korea International Freight Forwarders Association (KIFFA) to ramp up the global competition of forwarders at K-sure headquarters in Seoul on March 4.

The latest agreement came as Korean forwarders had repeatedly failed to receive payments in return for the provision of international transportation services from freight owners of import countries due to recent worsening outside conditions.

K-sure has been known to propose collaboration to the KIFFA side in a preemptive measure to support Korean forwarders.

Under the agreement, K-sure provide services for supporting the recovery of foreign receivables targeting member companies of KIFFA so that forwarders can redeem their outstanding receivables at a lower cost.

K-sure aggressively promotes such institutional systems by holding explanation sessions on the use of KIFFA member companies with demand on the recovery of outstanding foreign receivables if necessary.

K-sure plans to halve from 2 percent to 1 percent the charge rate for the successful recovery of outstanding receivables in the case SMEs and middle market companies, recommended by KIFFA, use K-sure’s services.

K-sure President Jang Young-jin said, “Outstanding receivables are on a steady rise due to uncertain factors, such as prolonged inflation, but forwarders themselves find it not easy to recover outstanding foreign bonds, so we will aggressively explore blind spots of the trade insurance scheme so that exporters in diverse areas can concentrate on their own business.”