Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
KB Financial Group to set up 'infra fund' for balanced growth, youth job creation
KB Financial Group Chairman Yang Jong-hee / Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
KB Financial Group will set up a 1 trillion won ($688 million) infrastructure fund to support advanced industries, reduce regional inequality and create quality jobs for young people, as part of its growing role in financing Korea’s long-term economic growth, the company said Thursday.
The initiative supports the government’s 150 trillion won national growth fund plan and its regional balanced growth strategy, widely known as “five growth poles, three special zones.” The strategy seeks to establish key regional hubs, in a shift from decades of Seoul-centric growth to a more sustainable model.
The fund will focus on long-term national infrastructure projects and help attract additional private investment.
KB said the new fund, called the KB Kookmin growth infrastructure fund, will be fully financed by KB’s major affiliates, becoming one of the largest infrastructure funds in Korea funded within a single financial group.
It will adopt a closed-end structure designed to reduce short-term profit volatility. It will also allow for stable, long-term capital deployment, managed by the group’s asset management subsidiary.
Investment targets include regional social infrastructure such as transport and environmental facilities and digital infrastructure.
Included are artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and computing facilities, energy systems supporting semiconductor clusters, and renewable energy projects such as solar and offshore wind power.
One of the first planned investments is the semiconductor cluster district in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
The fund seeks to also participate in offshore wind projects and development, in line with Korea’s carbon neutrality goals.
The fund will be financed by KB Kookmin Bank, KB Insurance and KB Life Insurance, enabling faster execution without external fundraising.
Previously, the group pledged to provide 93 trillion won in productive finance by 2030.
KB said the fund will strengthen industrial competitiveness, revitalize regional economies and help create stable, high-quality jobs for young people.