South Korea's state-guaranteed debt crisis looms. The nation's state-guaranteed debt is projected to more than double this year to 39 trillion won, or 1.4% of GDP, up 133.5% from the previous year. By 2029, this figure is expected to reach 80.5 trillion won, or 2.6% of GDP, with analysts warning it could exceed 100 trillion won by 2030. The sharp increase is driven by expanded bond issuance for government-backed funds supporting supply chain stabilization and advanced strategic industries. Supply chain fund bonds alone are projected to rise fourfold from 4.2 trillion won to 21.4 trillion won, while bonds for advanced industries like AI could jump from 1.5 trillion won to 43.5 trillion won. Additional fiscal pressure may come from a new law allowing government guarantees on bonds for joint South Korea-U.S. strategic investments worth hundreds of billions.
