Kiwoom Securities launches special note offering at 5.80% to mark Hangul Day

Kiwoom Securities is launching a special sale of short-term notes offering an annual interest rate of 5.80% before tax, to mark the 580th anniversary of the promulgation of Hunminjeongeum and the 100th anniversary of Hangul Day.

Kiwoom Securities said Thursday it would begin selling the three-month notes at an annual rate of 5.80% before tax that day. The offered yield is subject to change based on market interest rate conditions.

This year marks 580 years since Hunminjeongeum — the document introducing the Korean writing system — was promulgated in 1446. Hangul Day traces its origins to 1926, when the Korean Language Research Society designated the 29th day of the ninth lunar month as "Gagya Day." The name was changed to Hangul Day in 1928, and the holiday has been a public holiday since 1949.

Kiwoom Securities embedded the figures from both anniversaries into the product's terms. The 5.80% annual rate reflects the 580th anniversary of Hunminjeongeum's promulgation, while the total sales limit of 10 billion won ($7.47 million) and the 1 million won per-customer subscription cap reflect the 100th anniversary of Hangul Day.

The three-month product went on sale Thursday — one day before Hangul Day — on a first-come, first-served basis and will close once the 10 billion won limit is reached. Customers can purchase the notes through Kiwoom Securities' mobile trading system Yeongungmun S#, its website, or its home trading system Yeongungmun 4.

"We prepared this special offering to reflect on the value of our written language in a meaningful year," a Kiwoom Securities official said. "Just as hangul was designed so that anyone could easily learn and use it, we designed this product so that more customers can easily manage their short-term funds."

Short-term notes of this kind are promissory notes with maturities of up to one year, issued on the issuer's own credit by comprehensive financial investment business operators with equity capital of at least 4 trillion won, following authorization from financial regulators. Kiwoom Securities received authorization from the Financial Services Commission to issue such notes in November last year and launched its first product in December of that year.

However, these notes are not protected under the Depositor Protection Act. Investors may suffer principal losses depending on the issuer's credit risk and should verify the issuer's creditworthiness and repayment capacity before investing. Early redemption may result in a lower interest rate than the contracted rate.