Kwon Hyung-taek, chairman of the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (Kibo), said on the 22nd, marking his 100th day in office, that the agency will grow beyond technology guarantees into a comprehensive support institution for technology innovation.
Kwon, who took office in July, plans to pursue two core reform tasks: expanding the agency's technology innovation support functions through an organizational overhaul, and upgrading technology assessment capabilities based on artificial intelligence and data. He will also concentrate efforts on securing a stable financial footing to underpin those changes.
Kibo will first move beyond its existing support framework centered on technology guarantees to build a technology innovation support system that organically links technology assessment, technology transactions, technology protection, mergers and acquisitions, and the commercialization of research and development. To that end, the agency will realign its operating structure in consideration of the differing characteristics of financial and non-financial support. A revision to the Korea Technology Finance Corporation Act containing the organizational overhaul has been introduced in the National Assembly, and Kibo plans to work out specific implementation plans through parliamentary deliberation and consultations with relevant ministries.
The agency will also upgrade technology assessment, its core competitive strength. Drawing on the expertise and data it has accumulated, Kibo plans to refine its AI-based assessment models and develop its evaluation framework so that companies' technological capabilities and future growth potential can be judged more objectively. In particular, it will reflect the technological characteristics of future strategic industries and changes in the industrial environment in its assessments. Kibo will link assessment results to a range of support programs to strengthen a comprehensive system spanning both financial and non-financial support.
At the same time, Kibo plans to actively pursue a stronger financial base. To respond to expanded investment in future strategic industries such as AI and semiconductors, and to growing financing demand at each growth stage of innovative companies, the agency is exploring measures to strengthen the fund's finances, including larger government contributions.
Kibo has expanded its foundation for financial support through public-private cooperation, pursuing agreement-based guarantees worth 975 billion won with Woori Bank for strategic industries including semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers; up to 500 billion won with Hyundai Mobis and Hana Bank for partner companies; and 100 billion won with Hyundai Motor, Kia and the Industrial Bank of Korea for automotive semiconductor partner firms. Going forward, it plans to secure the sustainability of policy finance by pursuing an expanded financial base alongside systematic risk management.
"The past 100 days have been a time for giving concrete shape to the direction Kibo should take, based on voices from the field," Kwon said. "Going forward, through the organizational overhaul and upgraded technology assessment capabilities, we will build a foundation for comprehensive support for technology innovation, and we will do our utmost to secure the stable financial base needed to support it."