520 Trillion Won in Short-Term Bonds Issued in First Half of This Year... Up 31% from Last Year

The Korea Securities Depository announced on July 16, 2025, that the issuance amount of short-term bonds (STB) in the first half of this year reached 520.1 trillion won, representing a 30.8% increase compared to the same period last year.

Short-term bonds are electronic bonds issued by companies and other entities with a maturity of one year or less. They were introduced in 2013 to replace commercial papers and the call market (an ultra-short-term funding market).

By type, general short-term bonds issued by financial institutions and corporations accounted for 365 trillion won, while asset-backed short-term bonds issued by special purpose companies known as securitization companies totaled 155.1 trillion won.

By maturity, bonds with a three-month term amounted to 518.3 trillion won, accounting for 99.7% of the total issuance. The remainder consisted of bonds with maturities ranging from 93 to 365 days.

By credit rating, issuances with the highest A1 rating amounted to 485.9 trillion won, representing 93.4% of the total.

By industry, securities firms issued the largest amount of short-term bonds at 200.5 trillion won, followed by securitization companies (155.1 trillion won), other financial companies such as card and capital firms (89.7 trillion won), and general public enterprises (74.8 trillion won).