Seoul's Gangdong District Expands Small Business Credit Guarantees

On July 23, the Gangdong district of Seoul signed a regional‑growth special credit‑guarantee agreement with IKEA Korea, Woori Bank and KB Kookmin Bank. The partnership raised the guarantee fund from 59.73 billion won to 69.73 billion won, an increase of 10 billion won, with the three partners contributing a total of 800 million won to the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation.

The scheme allows local small firms and sole‑proprietors lacking collateral to obtain bank loans backed by a guarantee of up to 70 million won, with repayment terms of up to five years and an interest rate of roughly 2.7 % (variable). Since the start of the year the district has supported 1,041 firms with a total of 36.29 billion won in guarantees, surpassing the previous year’s 872 firms and 30.63 billion won.

Gangdong‑Gu chief Lee Su‑hee said the additional funding will help stabilize the operations of small enterprises amid persistent high inflation, interest rates and exchange rates, and pledged continued cooperation with private and financial partners.