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The bill amends the Korea Development Bank Act to (1) lift KDB's statutory paid-in-capital ceiling from KRW 30tn to KRW 45tn — the first increase in 11 years — and (2) create a dedicated "Advanced Strategic Industry Fund" as an off-balance-sheet-style financing vehicle inside KDB, capitalised through issuance of state-guaranteed bonds priced close to sovereign debt. Using guaranteed-bond funding rather than budget appropriations lets KDB deploy a materially larger pool of concessional capital than fiscal transfers alone would allow, and the fund operates under lighter prudential constraints than KDB's ordinary bank-book lending.
The ten designated "advanced strategic industries" mirror Korea's national strategic-technology list: AI, semiconductors, secondary batteries, biopharma/vaccines, defense, robotics, hydrogen, displays, and future mobility. Unlike earlier KDB support schemes, eligibility explicitly extends beyond large conglomerates to mid-sized and small strategic-industry firms. KDB has signalled it will use the KRW 50tn+ government-backed tranche as catalytic capital to crowd in private financial institutions and pension funds into a linked "National Growth Fund," targeting KRW 100tn+ in combined strategic-industry financing over five years.
instruments as the US CHIPS Act, EU Chips Act, Japan ESPA/JASM subsidies, and Korea's own K-Chips Act tax-credit regime — another lever competing to pull capex and supply-chain investment away from China-routed production.
battery, semiconductor and defense firms exposed to the same critical-input chokepoints (rare earths, battery precursor chemicals) covered elsewhere in the register — watch for KDB-financed onshoring/diversification deals as downstream signals.
approved, reported via FSC press release https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/85671) expanded the government-funded tranche to KRW 75tn and the total National Growth Fund to KRW 150tn, adding culture/content and critical-minerals-supply as two further eligible sectors — this is a distinct later-stage action, not filed here; file separately if queued.
formally launches (targeted year-end 2025 per the FSC release).
later enforcement-decree amendment) results in KDB financing for upstream mining/refining assets outside Korea.