Over 70% of K-Sure's Bonds Unrecoverable... Performance Bonuses Rise Every Year

96.7% of Overseas Bonds Non-Performing... Flaws in Management System
Kim Wonki: "Urgent Need for Precise Assessment and Advanced Grading System"

Won-Ki Kim, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure) holds bonds worth 4.5 trillion won, but it has been revealed that over 70% of these are virtually unrecoverable. Despite this, K-Sure has been paying out hundreds of millions of won in annual performance bonuses, sparking controversy over what some call a "performance bonus feast."

According to the National Assembly audit data submitted by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Wonki Kim (Mokpo, South Jeolla Province) on October 2, as of August this year, K-Sure held a total of 4.5179 trillion won in bonds. Of this, 3.1714 trillion won (70.2%) was classified as D to F grade, meaning it was unrecoverable or had minimal practical value. In contrast, bonds rated A, which are fully recoverable, amounted to only 2.8 billion won (0.06%).

In particular, 96.7% of overseas bonds-worth 1.4842 trillion won-were classified as C to F grade, indicating they were essentially non-performing. For domestic bonds, nearly half of the 3.0336 trillion won total was also classified as C to F grade, making recovery unlikely.

The proportion of high-risk bonds was also significant. Overseas bonds with a cumulative recovery rate of less than 10% totaled 970.2 billion won, while large unrecovered bonds of 10 billion won or more amounted to 733.6 billion won. There were also numerous cases where recovery was impossible, such as the liquidation of French importer M and the closure of domestic company K.

Nevertheless, K-Sure paid a total of 13.6 billion won in performance bonuses to its executives and employees over the past six years. By year, the bonuses increased from 1.7 billion won in 2020 to 2.9 billion won as of August 2025, even as the amount of unrecoverable bonds continued to accumulate.

Assemblyman Kim stressed, "It is a serious flaw in the management system when more than 70% of the bonds held by a national guarantee agency, which is funded by taxpayers, are unrecoverable. There is an urgent need for effective measures such as strengthening preliminary reviews of large and long-term bonds, conducting precise assessments of recoverability, and advancing the bond grading system."

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