The Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) completed its 15-year program to recover defaulted assets at a rate of 119 percent, the top level in the world, leaving an enviable mark on the nation’s economic history.

The company also built an excellent image as a financial institution for the poor with its low-interest loan product, “Exchange Loan,” that can be exchanged with higher interest loans.

Encouraged by these results, the company has set out to strengthen its role as a financial safety pin for the country this year. The major objectives the company will pursue this year include the expansion of loans for the poor for the soft-landing of household debts, helping to make government financial assets healthier by expanding the value of public assets, the effective takeover of defaulted assets and their recovery, and boosting the soundness of the assets of financial firms and businesses through an integrated management of defaulted assets of the public sector.

KAMCO’s main strategy is to come up with an integrated solution for financial problems related to the economic crisis including the shortage of houses and household debts, relying on its accumulated experiences of having a big hand in overcoming economic problems throughout its history.

In detail, KAMCO plans to beef up its role as a safety pin to safeguard the livelihood of the poor by coming up with financial products that they can afford, extending its operations to solving household debts, the recovery of credit for the poor, and building a system to help poor people take out loans.

The company also eyes boosting the value of state-owned assets by finding ways to develop publicly-owned real estate as well as the integral management of delinquent taxes. The company plans to help develop 130,000 pieces of land owned by the government in the first half of this year.

In order to do its job collecting delinquent taxes well, the company will install IT systems on all of its infrastructure in the first half, along with its plan to complete the construction of its annex in Sejong City and dormitories for public servants in the new capital.

Through the effective takeover of defaulted assets and their recovery and an integrated management of those assets, KAMCO aims to make the assets of financial firms and businesses healthier this year.

By Feb. 22, the company plans to return to the government and financial firms the recovered bad assets equal to the ratio of their investments.

The company plans to publish a book on its experiences on recovering bad assets.

President Chang Young-chul said an organization should be reformed steadily and ceaselessly so that it is ready to overcome any kind of crisis it may face and act as a safety pin for the national economy.