The South Korea Financial Services Commission announced a set of policy finance measures for startups, small businesses and small and midsize enterprises, extending its broader shift toward financing productive sectors and strategic industries. The package launches easier financing for early stage startups, plans to expand small business support from KRW 10.5 trillion to more than KRW 12 trillion, advances a specialist strategic technology investment manager and abolishes joint and several guarantees for small business primary collateralized bond obligations. Under the new Startup Build Up Program, the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and Industrial Bank of Korea will relax guarantee requirements and provide newly established startups with up to KRW 100 million on preferential guarantee fee and loan rate terms. Following reassessment after one year, support may rise to KRW 200 million, with principal repayment deferrable for three years. The expanded small business package will offer broader support, lower rates and higher loan limits to borrowers that have repaid debt without delinquency. Detailed changes are provisionally due by the end of September. The commission also plans to support incorporation of Korea Strategic Tech Partners by year end, targeting the supply of up to KRW 10 trillion over five years for frontier and strategically important technologies and the start of operations in the first half of 2027. Ending joint and several guarantees for small business primary collateralized bond obligations is expected to exempt about KRW 1.9 trillion of issuance annually, based on 2025 figures.

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