Financial Supervisory Service. Yonhap News
SK Shipping, Dongkuk Steel, and Hoban have been newly designated as main debtor groups, subjecting them to financial structure evaluations due to their large bank borrowings.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Wednesday that 42 business groups have been selected as main debtor groups for 2026. The designation applies to groups with total borrowings of at least 2.5569 trillion won and outstanding bank credit exposure of at least 1.5032 trillion won as of the end of last year. The number is up by one from last year and marks the largest total since 2014.
Four business groups — SK Shipping, Dongkuk Steel, Hoban, and Sinokor Merchant Marine — were newly added to the list. Three groups, including Eugene, E-Land, and Aekyung, were removed.
Among the 42 business groups, Samsung had the largest borrowings, followed by Hyundai Motor, SK, Lotte, and LG. Samsung, which ranked third in total borrowings last year, rose to first place this year, while SK, which had been first, dropped to third. Total bank credit exposure to main debtor groups this year stood at 386.9 trillion won, up 4.1% from a year earlier.
Once designated as a main debtor group, each company undergoes a financial structure evaluation by its main creditor bank. Business groups with unsatisfactory evaluation results sign financial structure improvement agreements and have the implementation of their self-rescue plans regularly monitored.