Business · Economy · 2 days ago
More than half of KDB small-business funding went to Seoul region
South Korea’s state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) provided 47.28 trillion won in funding to small businesses from 2023 through July 2026.
Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon received 53.1% of that total, with Seoul alone receiving the largest share.
South Chungcheong was the biggest recipient outside the capital region, but its funding was about one-quarter of Seoul’s.
Overall annual funding fell 17.7% between 2023 and 2025.
Over those years, Seoul’s funding rose 3.5%, while Sejong’s fell 95.1%, the largest drop among regions.
Lawmaker Min Byung-deok said policy funding should do more to support businesses and economies outside the capital region.
KDB said the allocation reflects where businesses and economic activity are concentrated, noting that the capital region accounted for 52.8% of South Korea’s nominal regional GDP in 2024.
More than half of Korea Development Bank’s funding for small and medium-sized businesses went to the Seoul region from 2023 through July 2026.
The bank supplied 25.1127 trillion won, or 53.1% of the 47.2814 trillion won total, to Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon.
Seoul received the largest share, 12.4529 trillion won, while South Chungcheong received the most among areas outside the capital region.
The bank’s total annual supply fell 17.7% from 2023 to 2025, while its supply to Seoul rose 3.5%.
A lawmaker called for stronger regional balance in policy finance, while the bank said the distribution reflected the capital region’s economic weight.
- Who
- Korea Development Bank, which provided funding to small and medium-sized businesses.
- What
- 53.1% of the funding went to Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon.
- When
- From 2023 through July 2026.
- Where
- South Korea, with the largest share going to the Seoul region.
- Why
- The bank said the distribution reflected the concentration of businesses and economic activity and the capital region’s 52.8% share of national nominal GRDP in 2024.
Min Byung-deok
Korea Development Bank
Regional balance
Min Byung-deok
Min said policy finance should strengthen its regional-balance function to support regional businesses and economies.
Korea Development Bank
The bank said supply reflected the distribution of businesses, economic activity and funding demand, and was not deliberately concentrated in the capital region.
Economic share
Min Byung-deok
Min highlighted the concentration of funding in the capital region and the sharp decline outside it.
Korea Development Bank
The bank said the capital region’s 53.1% share of funding was similar to its 52.8% share of national nominal GRDP in 2024.
KDB’s small-business funding is concentrated in the capital region, while it has declined sharply outside the capital region.
We did not deliberately concentrate funding in the capital region.
KDB supplied 14.4676 trillion won to small and medium-sized businesses nationwide.
Total annual supply fell 17.7%, while supply to Seoul rose 3.5%.
The capital region received 25.1127 trillion won, or 53.1% of the total supply since 2023.
Yonhap and Maeil Business reported the regional funding figures and the differing views of the lawmaker and the bank.
- Total funding
- 47.2814 trillion won, from 2023 through July 2026
- Capital-region share
- 25.1127 trillion won, or 53.1%
- Seoul share
- 12.4529 trillion won, or 26.3%
- Largest non-capital-region recipient
- South Chungcheong, 3.4025 trillion won, or 7.2%
- Sejong decline
- 95.1%, from 1.0343 trillion won in 2023 to 50.5 billion won in 2025
Sources
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