Contrary to its founding purpose of supporting companies with weak collateral capabilities, the Credit Guarantee Fund (Shinbo) has been found to have continued to increase guarantees for companies with high sales or long business history over the past five years.
According to data received from Shinbo by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jae-seop, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, on the 24th, from 2021 to 2025, the number of guarantee approvals for companies with sales of less than 1 billion won and businesses established for less than 3 years decreased, but support for companies with sales exceeding 10 billion won or companies established for more than 7 years was expanded.
The number of guarantee approvals for companies with sales of 1 billion won or less decreased by 4,145 cases (22.4%) from 18,524 cases in 2021 to 14,379 cases in 2025. Compared to the previous year (15,369 cases), there was a decrease of 990 cases (6.4%).
The amount approved for guarantees also decreased by KRW 813.3 billion (16.8%) from KRW 4.8422 trillion to KRW 4.0289 trillion during the same period. Compared to the previous year (KRW 4.219 trillion), loans decreased by KRW 190.1 billion (4.5%).
On the other hand, the number of approvals for companies exceeding 10 billion won in sales is 4,004 as of 2025, a sharp increase of 862 (27.4%) from 2021 (3,142) and 694 (21.0%) from the previous year (3,310).
During the same period, the amount approved for guarantees also increased by KRW 1.5367 trillion (65.1%) to KRW 3.8982 trillion. This is an increase of 507.1 billion won (15.0%) compared to the previous year (3.3911 trillion won).
Accordingly, the proportion of companies with sales of less than KRW 1 billion in the total number of guarantee approvals decreased by 4.9 percentage points (p) from 44.8% in 2021 to 39.9% in 2025, but the proportion of companies exceeding KRW 10 billion increased by 3.5 percentage points from 7.6% to 11.1%.
A similar trend was confirmed based on company experience.
The number of guarantee approvals for early-stage companies less than three years old decreased by 4,409 cases (28.0%) from 15,765 cases in 2021 to 11,356 cases in 2025. The decline continued, with a decrease of 1,201 cases (9.6%) compared to the previous year (12,557 cases).
The amount approved for guarantee also decreased by KRW 1.331 trillion (27.1%) from KRW 4.8161 trillion to KRW 3.513 trillion during the same period, and by KRW 355.2 billion (9.2%) from the previous year (KRW 3.8682 trillion).
In contrast, the number of approvals for mature companies that have been in business for more than 7 years is 15,390 as of 2025, an increase of 460 (3.1%) from 2021 (14,930). There was an increase of 1,525 cases (11.0%) from the previous year (13,865 cases).
The amount approved for guarantee increased by KRW 1.4072 trillion (25.4%) from KRW 5.5507 trillion in 2021 to KRW 6.9579 trillion in 2025. This is an increase of 820.1 billion won (13.4%) compared to the previous year (6.1378 trillion won).
Among the total number of approvals, the proportion of companies established less than three years ago decreased by 6.6 percentage points from 38.1% to 31.5% during the same period, while the proportion of companies established more than seven years ago increased by 6.6 percentage points from 36.1% to 42.7%.
Shinbo explained, "This is due to the expansion of the scale of policy guarantee support to prospective mid-sized companies based on contributions from banks and large corporations to help small businesses build a growth ladder to become mid-sized companies."
Representative Kim Jae-seop pointed out, "The Credit Guarantee Fund is an institution established to help companies with insufficient collateral capacity raise funds," and added, "We need to check whether the guarantee support for small businesses and early start-up companies is being provided in accordance with the legal purpose of its establishment."
