Korea Institute of Finance

Financial Research Brief

26-02 Feb 28, 2026

Recent Depreciation of the Korean Won Against the U.S. Dollar: Key Drivers and Policy Implications

The USD/KRW exchange rate has surged since September 2025, reaching a December peak that ranks among the highest levels on record, excluding past crisis episodes. During this period, movements in the U.S. dollar index diverged from the exchange rate, and exchange rate fluctuations varied widely across countries, suggesting that country-specific factors, rather than global factors, were at play in the recent depreciation of the Korean won. In particular, a sharp increase in overseas securities in...

Analysis of Current Issues Minkee Song, Jongho Lee

Key Strategies for Seamless Implementation of the National Growth Fund

Financial Review Byungyoon Lee

Payment Stablecoins: Current Usage and Policy Implications

Policy Issue in Focus Jinsoo Bae

Establishing a VC Fund Performance Database Through the Korea Fund of Funds

Policy Issue in Focus Hyungjoon Lim

The Role of Corporate Lending in Productive Finance and Policy Implications

Policy Issue in Focus Yong-Sang Shyn

Designing Sustainable MyData Frameworks for Vietnam: A Comparative Study of Korea's Experience and Policy Adaptation for Local Innovation

This study assesses Vietnam’s legal and institutional maturity and its preparedness for adopting financial MyData, and evaluates the relevant financial infrastructure elements by comparing them with the Korean case. Although Vietnam has met some of the basic requirements, the results indicate that it will require improvements to the legal and institutional framework, as well as strengthened inter-agency cooperation, to establish a safe and consent-based data-sharing system. This study also iden...

20260115 Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc, Choi Kwang Seok

Designing Sustainable MyData Frameworks for Georgia: A Comparative Study of Korea's Experience and Its Policy Adaptation

This study is a comparative analysis conducted to explore how Korea’s MyData framework can be incorporated into Georgia’s open banking and open finance development strategy. Korea has established a user-centric data ecosystem that spans finance, telecommunications, healthcare, and the public sector. This ecosystem is supported by a world-leading Data Re-use Index, a mature MyData infrastructure, a stringent licensing data-protection regime, and extensive API standardization. In contrast, Georg...

20260115 Varlam Ebanoidze, Kwang Seok Choi

A Study on the Possibility of a Compromise Between Household Debt Soundness and Financial Accessibility of Underserved Population : A Microeconomic View on Savings Bank Loan Holders

차주의 연체 발생 확률은 원리금 상환부담(debt-to-income, DTI) 증가뿐 아니라 신용공급 축소 등에 따른 유동성 제약 시 높아질 수 있음. 이에 본 연구는 유동성 제약이 연체 발생에 미치는 영향을 가계신용대출 보유 차주에 관한 미시 데이터를 통해 정량적으로 추산함. 당월 추가로 유동성을 공급받은 차주 대비 미공급 차주의 익월 연체진입률 배수(odds ratio)는 저축은행 차주가 2.0으로, 카드업권(1.7), 캐피탈업권(1.5), 은행업권(1.2)에 비해 높았음. 이는 저신용차주 및 이들 비중이 큰 저축은행 차주에 대한 유동성 공급이 연...

20260114 Tae-Rog Oh

Global Expansion of Policy Banks in Korea and Future Tasks

The assets of policy banks have expanded rapidly so that overseas asset ratio(overseas assets/total assets) of the Korea Development Bank(KDB), the Export-Import Bank of Korea(KEXIM), and the Industrial Bank of Korea(IBK) stands at 14%, 3% and 4% respectively. Overseas profit ratio(overseas profit/total profit), KDB and IBK show levels of 5% and 4%, respectively. Policy financial institutions in major foreign countries show that even government-owned banks actively pursue commercial roles(DBS) ...

20260114 Yoonsok Lee

Expanding Inclusion through Insurance: Analysis of global and Korean Inclusive Insurance Markets

The purpose of inclusive insurance is to alleviate economic instability among vulnerable populations by providing them with accessible and affordable insurance products, thereby improving financial inclusion and alleviating social inequality. This study thoroughly examines the cases of inclusive insurance in both global and Korean insurance markets. Based on the analysis of domestic and international cases, this study draws the following policy implications. First, insurance companies should ex...

20260114 Kwangmin Jung, Sangyong Han

Characteristics and Implications of Mortgage Loans

This study utilizes KCB sample data from 2008 to 2024 to classify mortgage borrowers into “simultaneous borrowers” (those who take out an additional unsecured loan within six months before or after obtaining a mortgage) and “single borrowers” (those who only take out a mortgage), and analyzes their characteristics. Simultaneous borrowers are generally in their 30s and 40s and tend to reside in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. The likelihood of being a sim...

20260114 Hyoung-Seok Lim