The Korea Specialty Contractors Financial Cooperative has launched an emergency response to protect its member companies as the prolonged Middle East war spreads to Korea's construction industry.
The cooperative officially launched a "Middle East War Crisis Response Task Force (TF)" on the 4th of this month and entered an emergency management system, it said Tuesday. The move aims to preemptively prevent damage to member companies as adverse factors including raw material supply imbalances, price surges, construction halts, and increased guarantee claims have compounded.
On the 8th, immediately after its launch, the TF inspected on-site conditions for member companies issued overseas guarantees and intensively monitored whether contracts contained Force Majeure clauses. The cooperative also distributed a "Guide for Member Companies Issued Overseas Guarantees Related to Middle East Geopolitical Risks," sharing legal response measures with member companies in the event of disputes.
For domestic sites, the cooperative conducted monitoring centered on industries of concern over high-value guarantees and raw material risks, and produced and distributed a guide for managing prime and subcontract agreements. Beyond existing pre-management targets, it plans to expand its management scope so that no blind spots arise in high-value, high-risk industries, and to significantly strengthen on-site visit activities by branch managers.
Financial support was also expanded. Starting on the 11th, the cooperative activated a financial support package in cooperation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), widening the scope of guarantee fee discounts through the end of the year. The 10% fee discount on construction equipment rental payment guarantees and subcontract payment guarantees, previously applied only to regional public works, was extended to the Seoul metropolitan area (Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi). The extension guarantee fee for contract and construction performance guarantees was cut by 30% to reduce member companies' financial cost burden.
"The core purpose of this TF is to minimize the impact that external adverse factors originating in the Middle East will have on Korea's construction industry and to establish a preemptive response system," a cooperative official said. "The more difficult the times, the more we will fulfill the cooperative's inherent role of easing member companies' financial burden and helping their management stability."
