The Ministry of Economy and Finance held an “Online Investor Relations (IR) on Korean Government Bonds” on March 25^th (Tuesday) from 17:00 to 18:00 (KST)^*, chaired by Second Vice Minister Kim Yoon-sang.

* London Time: 08:00-09:00,      Singapore/Hong Kong Time: 16:00-17:00

The IR aims to accurately convey to foreign investors the stable fundamentals of the Korean economy and its external credibility, despite recent uncertainties in domestic and global conditions, and actively attract new foreign investors in light of Korea’s inclusion in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI).

Held online, this event attracted over 130 participants, making it the largest IR session ever organized by the government to date. Attendees included asset management firms, investment banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and hedge funds from major financial hubs such as London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. Notably, in addition to global asset management giants including BlackRock and J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPAM), many other institutions, including Japanese asset management firms and global hedge funds, participated, showing new interest and investment intentions in the Korean government bond market.

In his opening remarks, VM Kim emphasized that, despite domestic and global uncertainties, the economic system has been functioning normally, minimizing volatility in the financial and foreign exchange (FX) markets; in particular, the swift recovery of the CDS premium and the fact that global credit rating agency Fitch maintained Korea’s sovereign credit rating at its highest-ever level (AA-, stable) in February reflect the country’s robust fundamentals and the high level of global confidence in its external credibility.

He also explained that the Korean government bond market, which has grown to the 12^th largest in the world, is showing a stable trend with continued net inflows of foreign capital. Along with solid fiscal and external soundness, the market’s investment attractiveness is expected to increase further with Korea’s inclusion in the WGBI this year. He stressed that the policy direction toward opening the government bond and FX markets, as well as expanding global investment attraction, will remain unwavering going forward.

Following the remarks, Director of the Government Bond Policy Division and Director of the FX Market Division provided detailed explanations on the investment conditions for government bonds and the progress of policies aimed at improving the structure of the government bond and FX markets.

In particular, they underlined that, ahead of Korea’s official inclusion in the WGBI, the government has been making various efforts to address the investment challenges faced by foreign investors, including tax exemptions and the simplification of investment procedures.

The investors who attended the IR assessed that the event provided an opportunity to gain a broad understanding of Korea’s stable economic situation and the government’s policy direction. Especially, they appreciated the significant improvement in the investment environment thanks to the government’s efforts to enhance accessibility to the government bond market and improve the FX market structure. They expressed strong interest, as reflected in their active inquiries regarding domestic political situations, supplementary budget plans, government bond issuance plans, the effects of WGBI inclusion, and FX market reforms.

The government plans to continue holding both online and offline IR sessions for overseas government bond investors to further strengthen communication with them. Moreover, much effort will be made to bolster the demand base for government bonds by exploring new investment demand. The government will also closely review and improve the investment conditions for foreign investors to ensure that the inclusion in the WGBI, scheduled for November this year, proceeds without any disruption.

Please refer to the attached files.