Korea Investment & Securities said Monday its Global Wealth Management (GWM) division, dedicated to ultra-high-net-worth clients, co-hosted a defense industry seminar for mid-sized companies in the southeastern region with the Korea Mid-sized Enterprises Federation.
The seminar was held Friday at Lotte Hotel Busan and drew owners of mid-sized companies in the southeastern region, where firms across the defense supply chain are concentrated.
The event was organized in recognition of the southeastern region's role as a key hub for South Korea's defense industry — spanning shipbuilding, machinery, aerospace, and materials and components — and as the area expected to benefit most from expanding defense exports.
In the first session, Kang Eun-ho, former head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), presented on the global competitiveness and future strategy of K-defense.
In the second session, Jang Nam-hyeon, a senior researcher at Korea Investment & Securities' research division, analyzed industry shifts — including the global trend of rising defense budgets and emerging battlefield technology — from a capital markets perspective, highlighting growth opportunities for companies.
Kim Do-hyeon, head of Korea Investment & Securities' individual client group, said, "What business owners need most on the rapidly shifting front lines of industry is the insight to read the future." He added that the firm would continue to create timely forums for owners to explore key topics in collaboration with the federation.
Cho Moon-su, chairman of the Southeastern Mid-sized Enterprise Network, said mid-sized companies must take an active role in nurturing defense materials, parts and equipment firms to strengthen the industrial ecosystem and sustain K-defense's growth. He added that he would work to ensure field demand and policy support remain aligned through improvements to the offset trade regime and initiatives such as a national growth fund.
Kim Hyeon-cheol, standing vice chairman of the Korea Mid-sized Enterprises Federation, said the federation would broaden cooperation with specialized institutions in industry, policy and finance — including Korea Investment & Securities — to strengthen the growth foundation for mid-sized companies and support the identification of new business opportunities.
Korea Investment & Securities has been holding a series of events for mid-sized companies in partnership with the federation. On Wednesday, it hosted a CFO Council at its Yeouido headquarters in Seoul, inviting chief financial officers from major mid-sized companies.
Korea Investment & Securities is also pressing ahead with its presence in Japan's public bond market. On July 3, it successfully completed book-building for a public offering of 36 billion yen ($222 million) in yen-denominated unsecured bonds — known as samurai bonds — and finalized the issuance that day.
The yen-denominated bonds drew strong interest from local institutional investors, securing 53.1 billion yen in valid orders during book-building. Korea Investment & Securities became the first domestic securities firm to issue yen-denominated bonds in 2023, broadening its foreign currency funding base, and has since reinforced its funding stability by raising an additional 10 billion yen in 2024.
jiyun@heraldcorp.com
