Industry-specific loans from South Korea’s deposit-taking institutions reached 2,065.3 trillion Korean won at the end of the second quarter, up 30.6 trillion won from the previous quarter and 92.3 trillion won, or 4.7%, from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea’s report released on September 7. The quarterly increase was slightly below the 30.8 trillion won recorded in the first quarter. Service-sector lending rose 19.9 trillion won to 1,313.1 trillion won, its largest quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2022, while manufacturing lending grew 8.4 trillion won to 521.5 trillion won. Real estate loans increased 6.2 trillion won as project-finance guarantees expanded, and finance and insurance lending also rose 6.2 trillion won as securities firms sought funding after derivatives-market margin requirements were raised. Working-capital loans rose 23.8 trillion won and accounted for 52.6% of total industrial lending, while facility investment loans increased 6.9 trillion won. Large-company lending accelerated, with commercial-bank loans to those firms rising 16.5 trillion won and growing 11.9% year on year, compared with 3.9% growth for small and medium-sized enterprises.