{"id":24194,"date":"2026-08-01T12:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24194"},"modified":"2026-08-01T12:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:48:12","slug":"south-korea-plans-13-6b-strategic-investment-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24194","title":{"rendered":"South Korea plans $13.6B strategic investment fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/ph\/st\/th\/2841785543229\/2026\/upi_com\/079a3528a88c2d76b57bdf20e002fdea\/v1.5\/South-Korea-plans-136B-strategic-investment-fund.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, who serves concurrently as the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, attends a task force meeting of economy-related ministers over price controls related to people&#8217;s livelihoods at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, 31 July 2026. Photo by YONHAP \/ EPA<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"story_dl\">July 31 (Asia Today) &#8212;<\/span> South Korea will launch a strategic investment fund worth more than 20 trillion won, or about $13.6 billion, next year to provide long-term capital to artificial intelligence, semiconductor and other industries considered vital to national security and economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>The government said Friday that it would establish a separate strategic investment account within the Korea Investment Corporation rather than create an independent sovereign wealth fund.\n<\/p>\n<p>Deputy Prime Minister and Finance and Economy Minister Koo Yun-cheol announced the plan during an emergency economic meeting and a meeting of economic ministers at the Government Complex Seoul.<\/p>\n<p>The new account will use KIC&#8217;s international investment network and asset-management expertise while expanding the corporation&#8217;s mandate beyond its traditional role of investing public foreign-exchange assets overseas.<\/p>\n<p>The government plans to submit a revision to the Korea Investment Corporation Act to the National Assembly in August and complete the legislation before the end of the year.\n<\/p>\n<p>The fund is expected to begin operating in 2027.<\/p>\n<p><b>Government shares to provide initial capital<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The fund will begin with more than 20 trillion won in assets.<\/p>\n<p>The government plans to contribute more than 16 trillion won, or about $10.9 billion, in shares it holds in public financial institutions, including the Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea.<\/p>\n<p>It will also contribute about 4 trillion won, or $2.7 billion, in private-company shares received as payment for inheritance and gift taxes.<\/p>\n<p>The government is considering accepting private donations intended to increase national wealth as another source of capital.<\/p>\n<p>The fund will target artificial intelligence, semiconductors and other advanced strategic industries as well as data centers, critical infrastructure and overseas companies important to South Korea&#8217;s supply chains.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike conventional policy financing, which often relies on loans, guarantees or subsidized credit, the fund will primarily make direct equity investments.<\/p>\n<p>The government said the approach would allow it to remain invested in promising companies for longer periods and share in their growth.<\/p>\n<p>The fund will also be able to exercise shareholder voting rights to promote corporate value, protect critical technologies and help companies defend themselves against hostile takeovers.<\/p>\n<p><b>Fund to serve as an anchor investor<br \/>\n<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>The government wants the strategic account to serve as an anchor investor capable of attracting global institutional investors to South Korean projects.<\/p>\n<p>By committing public capital first, the fund could reduce perceived risk and encourage foreign sovereign funds, pension funds and private investors to participate.<\/p>\n<p>The government also plans to connect the new account with existing policy funds.<\/p>\n<p>Venture and growth funds usually must sell their holdings and return capital to investors within four to eight years.<\/p>\n<p>Under a proposed relay-investment system, the strategic fund could purchase stakes in promising companies when those shorter-term policy funds reach maturity or begin liquidation.<\/p>\n<p>The arrangement is intended to prevent companies with long development cycles from losing financial support before they become commercially established.<\/p>\n<p>The model could be particularly important for semiconductor fabrication, artificial intelligence infrastructure, biotechnology and other sectors requiring large investments over many years.<\/p>\n<p><b>Separate governance structure planned<br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The government said it would create governance safeguards intended to protect the fund&#8217;s investment independence.<\/p>\n<p>KIC&#8217;s board structure would be divided between its existing foreign-reserve investment account and the new strategic account.<\/p>\n<p>A dedicated investment committee and advisory committee would be established for strategic investments.<\/p>\n<p>An operating committee would set broad policy and investment priorities but would not intervene in individual investment decisions, the government said.\n<\/p>\n<p>The separation is intended to prevent short-term political considerations from determining which companies receive investments.<\/p>\n<p>The plan also represents a change from an earlier proposal to establish a completely separate sovereign wealth fund.<\/p>\n<p>The government instead decided to expand KIC&#8217;s mandate and use its existing personnel, investment systems and global relationships.<\/p>\n<p><b>Long-term capital for industrial strategy<br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p>South Korea has introduced several public financing programs to support advanced industries, including funds targeting chips, artificial intelligence, batteries and biotechnology.<\/p>\n<p>The new strategic account differs because it is designed to hold equity investments for extended periods rather than provide loans or exit investments according to fixed fund schedules.<\/p>\n<p>The government expects the fund to support major national projects involving semiconductors, physical artificial intelligence and data centers while helping South Korean companies secure critical overseas supply chains.<\/p>\n<p>It also hopes investment returns will gradually expand the fund&#8217;s assets and reduce its dependence on additional government contributions.<\/p>\n<p>The success of the plan will depend on whether the government can maintain commercial investment discipline while pursuing broader industrial and national-security objectives.<\/p>\n<p>It will also require clear rules governing voting rights, corporate intervention, investment losses and potential conflicts between financial returns and government policy.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8212; Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI<\/i>\n<\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a9 Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Original Korean report: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260731010011712\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260731010011712<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, who serves concurrently as the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, attends a task force meeting of economy-related ministers over price controls related to people&#8217;s livelihoods at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, 31 July 2026. Photo by YONHAP \/ EPA July 31 (Asia Today) &#8212; South Korea&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/sv\/ph\/og\/upi_com\/2841785543229\/2026\/1\/079a3528a88c2d76b57bdf20e002fdea\/v1.5\/South-Korea-plans-136B-strategic-investment-fund.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}