South Korea’s Financial Services Commission has announced a second batch of National Growth Fund (NGF) investment megaprojects and set out a plan to provide more than KRW50 trillion of investment and lending support over the next five years to strengthen high-tech industrial value chains and regional ecosystems. The new megaprojects cover next generation biotech and vaccines, an OLED display facility, future mobility and defense, sovereign artificial intelligence, energy infrastructure development, and the Saemangeum development project spanning robotics, hydrogen, AI and energy. The investment plan includes KRW35 trillion of indirect investment via a private-public joint investment fund operated through 20 types of feeder funds, including a scale-up fund, an ultra-long-term technology investment fund with a minimum 10-year horizon, and a fund to support M&A and business restructuring as an exit pathway. The NGF will also allocate at least KRW200 billion annually to a regional high-tech industry fund that must invest at least 60 percent in regional businesses, with additional points and incentives for region-based fund managers, and will shift manager selection away from short-term yield metrics toward company value enhancement. A further KRW15 trillion of direct investment is intended for large-scale, long-term facility and production-line investments, supported by a new private-public consultative body under the National Growth Fund Promotion Bureau to broaden deal sourcing beyond traditional channels; for high-risk or patient-capital projects, the public portion will take a subordinated position to catalyse private investment. Low-interest lending support will be expanded for SMEs and middle market enterprises, including structures to encourage large companies to co-invest alongside suppliers and partners via project funds or special purpose companies, with a focus on faster support for firms outside the Seoul metropolitan area. Fund management company selection for the private-public joint fund is scheduled for the second quarter, with investments expected to begin from as early as the end of the year. Direct investments and low-interest lending will be provided on a rolling basis, while the FSC and the Korea Development Bank plan to continue identifying additional areas where NGF megaprojects require policy-based investment support.

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