South Korea has outlined plans to invest several trillion KRW into its shipping industry to enhance the sector’s competitiveness, with Korea Ocean Business Corp (KOBC) tasked with deploying KRW 3.4 trillion ($2.38 billion) in 2025, according to Yonhap News.
The initiative aims to strengthen maritime businesses amid global economic challenges and shifting trade dynamics. The funding from KOBC, a state-backed entity, follows a pattern of substantial investments in the sector.
In April 2024, The Korea Times reported that the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries planned to inject KRW 3.5 trillion ($2.5 billion) by 2030 to expand shipping capacity, targeting 140 million tons and 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by that year, up from 1.2 million TEUs currently.
“We will offer an additional 250 billion won in financial support to small- and medium-sized shipping firms, while investing 2.13 trillion won in the construction of eco-friendly vessels and 1.1 trillion won in the establishment of eco-friendly bunkering infrastructure,” Vice Oceans Minister Song Myeong-dal stated last year.
KOBC’s 2025 allocation builds on earlier efforts. In April 2024 KOBC issued $600 million in bonds to finance fleet expansion, with CEO Kim Yang-soo saying, “We’ll respond to government policies by securing eco-friendly fleets for national shipping companies and expanding investment in ports and logistics facilities.”
The bonds, split into three- and five-year tranches of $300 million each, were oversubscribed by $3.9 million, reflecting investor interest despite geopolitical risks.
The investment comes as South Korea’s flagship carrier, HMM, navigates industry shifts. HMM, partially owned by KOBC and Korea Development Bank (KDB), faced a failed sale in February 2024 when negotiations with a Harim-JKL Partners consortium collapsed over a KRW 6.4 trillion ($4.8 billion) deal. HMM remains under KDB and KOBC credit management, with its fleet renewal backed by prior orders for 20 mega containerships from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), costing KRW 3 trillion in 2018, according to Offshore Energy.
Additional support for the sector includes a 2023 partnership between KOBC and CJ Logistics, which saw a KRW 600 billion ($457 million) investment to build three U.S. logistics centers by 2027, targeting hubs near Chicago and New Jersey.
Korea Ocean Business Corp (KOBC) is a South Korean state-run entity established in 2018 to support the maritime industry through financial aid, ship investments, and logistics infrastructure development.