![[Korean Development Bank headquarters building.]
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Korea Development Bank headquarters. - Seoul Economic Daily Finance News from South Korea](https://wimg.sedaily.com/news/cms/2026/10/05/news-p.v1.20260726.ef72dc91fb824702bec54519302798c0_P1.jpg "Budget Office Urges KDB to Speed Up Sale of HMM Stake")
The National Assembly Budget Office said the Korea Development Bank should move quickly to sell about 9 trillion won ($6.4 billion) worth of corporate shares it acquired through corporate restructuring.
In a recent report on KDB's holdings in HMM (011200.KS), Hanwha Ocean (042660.KS) and KDB Life Insurance, the budget office said public funds have been "tied up in specific companies for a long period," according to financial industry sources on the 5th. The office called for authorities to "restore the virtuous cycle of policy funds and normalize the bank's management environment." Based on book value, the holdings are worth 6.636 trillion won in HMM, for a 35.42% stake; 1.5167 trillion won in Hanwha Ocean, for 15.25%; and 510.7 billion won in KDB Life Insurance, for 99.69%.
KDB became the largest shareholder of HMM, formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine, while providing liquidity to the shipping line in 2016, when an industry downturn pushed it to the brink of court receivership. The bank acquired its stake in Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, through financial support during the 1999 breakup of the Daewoo Group and the 2015 accounting fraud scandal. It took its holding in KDB Life Insurance, formerly Kumho Life, during the restructuring of Kumho Asiana Group in 2010.
The budget office criticized the delays, saying policy finance is losing effectiveness because stakes in companies that have returned to health have not been sold to private buyers in a timely manner. KDB privatized management control of Hanwha Ocean in 2023 and began selling a 4.2% stake last year, but that process is also taking a long time.
The office stressed that the longer the sales are delayed, the less policy funds can serve their purpose of rotating into new growth industries. "KDB's long-term holding of large stakes is a key factor determining the effectiveness of policy finance both now and in the future," an official at the budget office said. "It is acting as a structural burden across the bank's entire management environment."
