The Export-Import Bank of Korea holds more than 1,400 meetings a year to arrange financing for international economic cooperation projects, according to figures cited by the financial industry.
The bank held 803 business meetings with embassies, international organizations and international financial institutions from the start of this year through the end of June, financial industry sources said on the 27th. It held 1,469 such meetings in 2024 and 1,430 last year.
Korea Eximbank is a state-run policy lender specializing in support for international transactions. It backs overseas exports and investment by Korean companies as well as overseas resource development through export financing, the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) and the Supply Chain Resilience Fund (SCRF).
Most of the institutions the bank works with regularly are concentrated in Seoul. Embassies of all 118 countries with a diplomatic presence in South Korea are located in the capital, as are 27 of the 30 international organizations, or 90%, that cooperate with the bank. Overseas companies account for 43% of the bank's total clients, and 55% of its outstanding loan balance. Foreign project owners visiting South Korea often schedule all their meetings with partner companies in the greater Seoul area.
A relocation would also hamper responses to financial crises, according to the bank's labor union. Korea Eximbank served as a financial backstop during the 1997 foreign exchange crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis by supplying foreign currency through its overseas funding networks. It issued a combined $124 billion in foreign currency bonds from 2015 through the end of June this year, the second-largest volume in Asia after the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
"Even when a supply chain crisis occurs, delays in exchanges with embassies in Seoul would disrupt efforts to stabilize supplies of key raw materials," an official at the bank's labor union said. "For reasons of accessibility, policy lenders in major countries abroad are concentrated in financial centers such as London and Tokyo."
Reduced access for domestic exporters is also cited as a problem. Some 68% of South Korea's exporting companies are based in the greater Seoul area, which accounts for 78% of all export transactions. Moving the bank's headquarters to a provincial location could increase administrative costs and the time required to complete business.
Yoon Seok-koo, president of the Korean Financial Industry Union, held a press conference the same day and said the government has failed to keep its promises. "The current administration's pledge to hold sufficient discussions with the institutions targeted for relocation is not being kept at all," the union leader said. "Balanced regional development should be pursued in a way that further strengthens Seoul's competitiveness as a financial center while expanding jobs around regional banks."
