Saemaeul Geumgo with 28.4 Trillion Won Scale, Delinquency Rate Management Remains 'Kkamkkami'

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety Also Failed to Timely Grasp First Quarter Data

As the delinquency rate in the secondary financial sector continues to rise, signaling a red alert, the delinquency rate of Saemaeul Geumgo, with assets totaling 284 trillion won, remains in a 'blackout' state this year.

According to the office of Hong Seong-guk, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 22nd, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety responded that it currently does not have the first-quarter loan and delinquency rate data of Saemaeul Geumgo. The Ministry stated that the officially managed data is the 'year-end delinquency rate.' The Ministry of the Interior and Safety also said it would prepare and submit the delinquency rate figures along with management plans in early July.

The Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association refused the National Assembly's request for data submission. The Central Association stated that it intends to disclose the delinquency rate after 'normalizing' it. This contrasts with other mutual financial institutions supervised and managed by the Financial Supervisory Service. Credit unions, Nonghyup, Suhyup, and the Korea Forest Service cooperatives have already disclosed their first-quarter delinquency rates since early June following the National Assembly's data submission requests. Due to this, while the financial sector is comprehensively managing delinquency rates, criticism arises that the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, despite being the supervisory authority for Saemaeul Geumgo, is not promptly collecting and responding to the latest related statistics.

Some speculate that the delinquency rate of Saemaeul Geumgo has worsened, leading to a deliberate delay in disclosure. As of the end of last year, Saemaeul Geumgo's delinquency rate was 3.59%, up 1.66 percentage points from the previous year, and it is believed that the rate increased further in the first quarter. Looking at the delinquency rates of other mutual financial institutions for the first quarter of this year, Credit Unions stand at 3.75%, Korea Forest Service cooperatives at 3.13%, Suhyup at 3.06%, and Nonghyup at 1.93%. Regarding this, Assemblyman Hong pointed out, "It is questionable whether soundness management can be properly conducted when not only the financial authorities but also the responsible ministry cannot even compile and submit basic status data."

Among mutual financial institutions, only Saemaeul Geumgo is under the supervisory authority of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which has led to ongoing controversies. In March, Saemaeul Geumgo was excluded from the real estate project financing (PF) exposure scale disclosed by the Bank of Korea, sparking debate. However, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety maintains that there is no problem with management and supervision. A Ministry official stated, "Although not monthly, we manage it in the form of joint audits, similar to the Financial Supervisory Service conducting on-site inspections."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.