The Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE) is extending financial support worth about 1.5 trillion won to the Romanian government in order to help Korean defense industry companies enter the European market.
K-SURE said April 1 that the corporation was offering 900 million euros (about 1.5 trillion won) in financing to the Romanian Finance Ministry.
The financial support is expected to be used for Romania’s state-funded projects to procure defense supplies on the condition that Korean companies participate in the projects.
The financial support was concluded as the outcome of negotiations between K-SURE, which explored new export and overseas investment markets, and the Romanian government, who has diversified fiscal funding sources.
In particular, it takes on significance since the financing is the first such financial support involving the defense industry sector and the first advance financing targeting an EU member country.
If Romania additionally purchases Korean-made products, the financial support is expected to be expanded, thus serving as an opportunity to expand bilateral economic relations.
K-SURE has strategically utilized advance financing to major overseas procurement entities since 2020 to prop up Korean companies’ competitiveness designed to land orders.
Last November, K-SURE offered to ADNOC, the state-run largest oil company of the United Arab Emirates, $2 billion in advancing financing to help Korean companies win orders.
Chairman and President Jang Young-jin of K-SURE said, “Financing’s role is getting significant in the competition to land global orders, such as ones related to the defense sector, and we will aggressively devote ourself to achieving state agendas, such as rising to a global top four defense powerhouse.”
K-SURE Teams Up with Woori Bank and MOTIR to Offer Financial Support to Korean Exporters
Amid a recent sharp upward growth in the K-fashion/beauty industry on the global market, the government and the private sector have joined forces to ramp up the competitiveness of the industry’s supply chains.
Woori Bank struck an MOU with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) and K-SURE to expand a 3 trillion won productive-finance program for exporters.
A ceremony to sign the deal took place at K-SURE headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on April 14 with MOTIR Minister Kim Jung-kwan, Woori Bank President Jeong Jin-wan and K-SURE Chmn. Jang Young-jin in attendance.
Minister Kim said, “Win-win trade finance is more than a support program. It is a key safety net for Korea’s industrial ecosystem and supply chains.
By sharing responsibility and supporting their partner companies, large companies and financial institutions help sustain Korea’s export competitiveness, and the government will work to expand this model quickly.”
At a minister-chaired roundtable on April 14, MOTIR announced plans to expand win-win trade finance to 10 trillion won by the end of 2026.
The move comes amid heightened external uncertainty linked to the war in the Middle East.
Formally known as the Export Supply Chain Strengthening Guarantee, the program is a public-private financing model that brings together exporters, commercial banks, and policy finance institutions through partnerships between large companies and SMEs.
Since Hyundai Motor and Kia joined the program in August 2025, HL Group, POSCO, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have followed.
Kolmar and MUSINSA joined on April 14, 2026, bringing the total mobilized amount to 1.7 trillion won.
The program had, until then, spread mainly through heavy industries such as autos, steel, and shipbuilding, but has now expanded to consumer goods as well.
At the roundtable, Kolmar and MUSINSA signed separate agreements with Woori Bank under the program.
Kolmar, which supports K-beauty through cosmetic ingredient supply and R&D, will contribute 10 billion won, supporting 174 billion I won liquidity for more than 160 SME and middle-market partner companies.
MUSINSA, a leading K-fashion company, will contribute 5.75 billion won, supporting 100 billion won in liquidity for more than 200 micro and SME partner companies.
Given the large number of micro and small suppliers in consumer-goods industries, the government will also step up tailored support, including online direct guarantees to speed up access to small-ticket trade finance.
The government will also use the supplementary budget to provide 3 trillion won in emergency trade finance for companies affected by the war in the Middle East.
It will increase financing for key importers in sectors facing heightened supply-chain strains, including petrochemicals and energy; expand short-term export insurance for companies seeking alternative export markets; and provide emergency liquidity for SMEs facing logistics disruptions and uncertainty over raw material imports.
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